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CAPTAIN JANUARY 


BY 

#■ 

LAURA E. RICHARDS 

II 


# 


EIGHTY -FIFTH THOUSAND 


BOSTON 

ESTES & LAURIAT 
1897 


TZ-' 

CjO- 

n 


Copyright, 1890, 

By ESTES & LAURIAT. 


All, Rights Reserved. 


3 #- 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Star Bright 1 

II. The Story , . 13 

III. Introducing Imogen and Bob 24 

IV. The Visit t 35 

V. Captain January’s Star 42 

VI. The Signal . . 56 




CAPTAIN JANUARY. 







Ki 


CAPTAIN JANUARY. 


CHAPTER 1. 


STAR BRIGHT. 


HE Captain had sold all his lobsters. They had been 



-L particularly fine ones, and had gone off ^^like hot 
cakes, every one who passed by the wharf stopping to buy 
one or two. 'Now the red dory was empty, and the Captain 
had washed her out with his usual scrupulous care, and was 
making preparations for his homeward voyage, when he 
was hailed by a cheery voice from the street. 

^^Hillo, January ! said the voice. ^^Is that you ? How 
goes it ? and the owner of the voice, a sturdy man in a 
blue coat with brass buttons, came down the wharf and 
greeted the Captain with a hearty shake of the hand. 

How goes it ? ’’ he repeated. I haven’t seen ye for a 
dog’s age.” 

^^I’m hearty, Cap’n hTazro!” replied Captain January. 
‘‘ Hearty, that’s what I am, an’ hopin’ you’re the same.” 

That’s right ! ” said the first speaker. ’Tain’t often 
we set eyes on you, you stick so close to your light. And 
the little gal, she’s well, I expect? She looks a picture, 
when I take a squint at her through the glass sometimes. 
Kever misses running out and shaking her aprr'n when we 
go byi” 


1 


2 


CAPTAIN JANUABY. 


^‘Cap’ll JSTazro,” said January, speaking with emphasis, 
there is a pictur in this world, of health, and pootiness, 
and goodness, it’s that child. It’s that little un, sir. Not 
to be beat in this country, nor yet any other, ’cordin’ as 
I’ve voyaged.” 

‘^Nice little gal ! ” said Captain Nazro, assenting. Mighty 
nice little gal ! Ain’t it time she was going to school, Janu- 
ary ? My wife and I were speaking about it only the other 
day. Seems as if she’d oughter be round with other chil- 
dren now, and learning what they do. Mis Nazro would 
be real pleased to have her stop with us a spell, and go to 
school with our gals. What do you say ? ” He spoke very 
heartily, but looked doubtfully at the old man, as if hardly 
expecting a favorable answer. 

Captain January shook his head emphatically. You’re 
real kind, Cap’n Nazro ! ” he said ; ^^real kind, you and Mis 
Nazro both are ! and she makin’ thp little un’s frocks and 
pinafores, as is a great help. But I can’t feel to let her out 
o’ my sight, nohow ; and as for school, she ain’t the kind to 
abear it, nor yet I couldn’t for her. She’s learnin’ ! ” he 
added proudly. Learnin’ well ! I’ll bet there ain’t no 
gal in your school knows more nor that little un does. 
Won’erful, the way she walks ahead.” 

Get the school readers, hey ! and teach her yourself, 
do you ? ” queried Captain Nazro. 

^^No, sir ! ” replied the old man; ‘‘I don’t have no school 
readers. The child learns out o’ the two best books in the 
world, — the Bible, and William Shakespeare’s book; them’s 
all the books she ever seed — 'saw, I should say.” 

William Shak — ” began Captain Nazro; and then he 
broke off in sheer amazement, and said simply, Well, I’m 
blowed ! ” 


STAB BBIGHT 


3 


‘^Tlie minister giv ’em to me/’ said Captain January. 

1 reckon he knows. There’s a dictionary, too,” he added, 
rather sadly ; but I can’t make her take to that, nohow, 
though there’s a power o’ fine words in it.” 

Then, as the other man remained silent and open-mouthed, 
he sai&: ^^But I must be goin’, Cap’n Kazro, sir ! The little 
un’ll be lookin’ for me. Good day, sir, and thank ye kindly, 
all the same as if it was to be, which it ain’t ! ” And with 
a friendly gesture, the old man stepped into his red dory, 
and rowed away with long, sturdy strokes. 

Captain hTazro gazed after him meditatively, took out 
his pipe and looked at it, then gazed again. January’s 
cracked,” he said; “that’s what’s the matter with him. 
He’s a good man, and a good lighthouse-keeper, and he’s 
been an able seaman in his day, none better; but he’s 
cracked ! ” 

There is an island oJffi a certain part of the coast of Maine 
— a little rocky island, heaped and tumbled together as if 
Dame Nature had shaken down a heap of stones at random 
from her apron, when she had finished making the larger 
islands which lie between it and the mainland. At one 
end, the shoreward end, there is a tiny cove, and a bit of 
silver sand beach, with a green meadow beyond it, and a 
single great pine ; but all the rest is rocks, rocks. At the 
further end the rocks are piled high, like a castle wall, 
making a brave barrier against the Atlantic waves : and on 
top of this cairn rises the lighthouse, rugged and sturdy as 
the rocks themselves, but painted white, and with its win- 
dows shining like great, smooth diamonds. This is Light 
Island ; and it was in this direction that Captain J anuary ’s 
red dory was headed when he took his leave of his brother- 
captain, and rowed away from the wharf. It was a long 


4 


CAPTAIN JANUARY, 


pull ; in fact; it took pretty nearly the whole afternoon, so 
that the evening shadows were lengthening when at length 
he laid down his oars, and felt the boat’s nose rub against 
the sand of the little home-cove. But rowing was no more 
effort than breathing to Captain January, and it was no 
fatigue, but only a trifle of stiffness from sitting so long, 
that troubled him a little in getting out of the boat. As he 
stepped slowly out upon the firm-grained silver of the little 
beach, he looked up and around with an expectant air, and 
seeing no one, a look of disappointment crossed his face. 
He opened his lips as if to call some one, but checking him- 
self, ‘^Happen she’s gettin’ supper!” he said. ^‘It’s later 
than I thought. I don’t pull so spry as I used ter, ’pears 
ter me. Wal, thar I ’tain’t to be expected. I sh’ll be forty 
years old before I know it.” 

Chuckling to himself, the Captain drew up the little boat 
and made her fast : then, taking sundry brown paper par- 
cels from under the thwart, he turned and made his way 
up toward the lighthouse. A picturesque figure he was, 
striding along among the heaped and tumbled rocks. His 
hair and beard, still thick and curly, were absolutely white, 
as white as the foam that broke over the rocks at the cliff’s 
foot. His face was tanned and weather-beaten to the color 
of mahogany, but the features were strong and sharply cut, 
while the piercing blue eyes which gleamed beneath his 
shaggy eyebrows showed all the fire of youth, and seemed 
to have no part in the seventy years which had bent the 
tall form, and rounded slightly the broad and massive 
shoulders. The Captain wore a rough pea-jacket and long 
boots, while his head was adorned with a nondescript cov- 
ering which might have begun life either as a hat or a cap, 
but would now hardly be owned by either family. 


ISTAR BRIGHT. 


5 


Keaching the house, the old man mounted the rude steps 
which led to the door, and entered the room which was 
kitchen, dining^ and drawing room at Storm Castle, as 
the lighthouse was called by its inhabitants. The room 
was light and cheerful, with a pleasant little fire crac- 
kling sociably on the hearth. The table was laid with a 
clean white cloth, the kettle was singing on the hob, and 
a little covered saucepan was simmering with an agreeable 
and suggestive sound ; but no one was to be seen. Alarmed, 
he hardly knew why, at the silence and solitude. Captain 
January set his parcels down on the table, and going to the 
foot of the narrow stone staircase which wound upward be- 
side the chimney, called, Star ! Star Bright, where are 
you ? Is anything wrong ? 

“ No, Daddy Captain ! answered a clear, childish voice 
from above ; I^m coming in a minute. Be patient. Daddy 
dear ! 

With a sigh of relief. Captain January retired to the fire- 
place, and sitting down in a huge high-backed armchair, 
began leisurely pulling off his great boots. One was already 
off and in his hand, when a slight noise made him look up. 
He started violently, and then, leaning back in his chair, 
gazed in silent amazement at the vision before him. 

On the stone stairway, and slov^ly descending, with steps 
that were meant to be stately (and which might have been 
so, had not the stairs been so steep, and the little legs so 
short) was the figure of a child : a little girl about ten 
years old, with a face of almost startling beauty. Her hair 
floated like a cloud of pale gold about her shoulders ; her 
eyes were blue, not light and keen, like the old man’s, but 
of that soft, deep, shadowy blue that poets love to call 
violet. Wonderful eyes, shaded by long, curved lashes oi 


6 


CAPTAIN JANUARY, 


deepest black, wbicb fell on tbe soft, rose-and-ivory tinted 
cheek, as the child carefully picked her way down, holding 
up her long dress from her little feet. It was the dress 
which so astonished Captain January. Instead of the pink 
calico frock and blue checked pinafore, to which his eyes 
were accustomed, the little figure was clad in a robe of dark 
green velvet with a long train, which spread out on the 
staircase behind her, very much like the train of a peacock. 
The body, made for a grown woman, hung back loosely from 
her shoulders, but she had tied a scarf of gold tissue under 
her arms and round her waist, while from the long hanging 
sleeves her arms shone round and white as sculptured ivory. 
A strange sight, this, for a lighthouse tower on the coast of 
Maine ! but so fair a one, that the old mariner could not 
take his eyes from it. 

“Might be Juliet!’’ he muttered to himself. “Juliet, 
when she was a little un. ^Her beauty hangs upon the 
cheek o’ Night,’ — only it ain’t, so to say, exactly night, — 
4ike a rich jewel in a nigger’s ear.’ No ! that ain’t right. 
i Nigger ’ ain’t right, ^ Ethiop’s ear,’ that’s it I Though I 
should judge they were much the same thing, and they 
more frekently wear ’em in their noses, them as I’ve seen 
in their own country.” 

As he thus soliloquized, the little maiden reached the 
bottom of the stairs in safety, and dropping the folds of 
the velvet about her, made a quaint little courtesy, and 
said, “ Here I am. Daddy Captain ! how do you like me, 
please ? ” 

“Star Bright,” replied Captain January, gazing fixedly 
at her, as he slowly drew his pipe from his pocket and 
lighted it. “ I like you amazin’. M-mazin’ I like you, my 
dear ! but it is what you might call surprisin’,* to leave a 


STAB BRIGHT. 


7 


little maid in a bine pinafore, and to come back and find a " 
princess in gold and velvet. Yes, Pigeon Pie, yon might 
call it surprisin’, and yet not be stretchin’ a p’int.’’ 

Am I really like a princess ? ” said the child, clapping 
her hands, and laughing with pleasure. ^^Have you ever 
seen a princess. Daddy Captain, and did she look like me ? ” 
seed — I saw — one, once,” replied the captain, gravely, 
puffing at his pipe. ^'^In Africky it was, when I was fust 
mate to an Indiaman. And she wa’n’t like you. Peach 
Blossom, no more than Hyperion to a Satyr, and that kind . 
o’ thing. She had on a short petticut, cornin’ half-way 
down to her knees, and a necklace, and a ring through her 
nose. And — ” 

Where were her other clothes ? ” asked the child. 

Wal — maybe she kem off in a hurry and forgot ’em ! ” 
said the Captain, charitably. Anyhow, not speakin’ her 
language, I didn’t ask her. And she was as black as the 
ace of spades, and shinin’ all over with butter.” 

“ Oh, that kind of princess ! ” said Star, loftily. I didn’t 
mean that kind. Daddy. I meant the kind who live in 
fretted palaces, with music in th’ enamelled stones, you 
know, and wore clothes like these every day.” 

Wal, honey, I never saw one of that kind, till now !” 
said the Captain, meekly. ^^And I’m sorry I hain’t — I 
mean I ainH — got no fretted palace for my princess to live 
in. This is a poor place for golden lasses and velvet 
trains.” 

“It isnHI” cried the child, her face flashing into sudden 
anger, and stamping her foot. “You sha’n’t call it a poor 
place. Daddy ! It’s wicked of you. And I wouldn’t live in 
a palace if there were fifty of them all set in a row. So 
there now ! ” She folded her arms and looked defiantly at 


CAPTAIN JANUARY. 


» 

the old man, who returned her gaze placidly, and continued 
to puff at his pipe, until he was seized in a penitent em- 
brace, hugged, and kissed, and scolded, and wept over, all 
at once. 

The brief tempest over, the child seated herself com- 
fortably on his knee, and said, ^^hTow, Daddy, I want a 
story.” 

Story before supper ? ” asked the Captain, meekly, look- 
ing at the saucepan, which was fairly lifting its lid in its 
eagerness to be attended to. A fresh access of remorseful 
hugging followed. 

You poor darling ! ” said Star ; forgot all about sup- 
per. And it’s stewed kidneys, too ! But oh ! my dress ! ” 
and she glanced down at her velvet splendor. I must go 
and take it off,” she said, sadly. 

'^Not you. Honeysuckle,’’ said the old man, losing and 
* setting the child down carefully in the chair. “Sit you 
there, and be a real princess, and I will be your steward, 
and get supper this time. I like to see you in your fine 
clothes, and ’twould be a shame to take ’em off so soon.” 

She clapped her hands again, and settling herself coseyly 
in the great chair, arranged her train with a graceful sweep, 
and pushed back her cloudy golden hair. 

“ Shall I really act princess ? ” she asked, — and without 
waiting for an answer, she began to give orders in lofty 
tones, holding her head high in the air, and pointing hither 
and thither with her tiny hands. “ Take up the golden 
chafing-dish, Grumio ! ” she cried. “ The kidneys — I mean 
the capons — are quite ready now. And the milk — no ! 
the sack, — is in the silver fiagon ! ” she pointed to an ancient 
blue jug which stood on the dresser. 

The obedient Captain hastened to take up the saucepan, 


STAB BBIGHT. 


9 


- . s- 



and soon tlie frugal supper was set out, and princess and 
steward doing ample justice to it. 

^^You didn’t say ‘ Anon! anon! Madam’ when I ordered 
you about,” said the Princess, tliouglitfully. “ You ought to, 
you know. Servants always do in the book.” 

^^Wal, I didn’t think on’t,” the steward admitted. ‘‘1 
wa’n’t brought up to the business, you see. Princess. It 
always seemed to me a foolish thingJ:o say, anyhow : no dis- 
respect to W. Shakespeare. The hull of the word’s ^anony- 
mous,’ I believe, and the dictionary says that means ‘ wanting 
a name.’ So altogether. Star Bright, I haven’t been able 
to make much sense out o’ that answer.” 

“ Oh, nevef mind ! ” said the Princess, tossing her head. 

I don’t like the dictionary. It’s a wretch ! ” 

So ’tis, so ’tis,” assented the Captain, with servile ala- 
crity. Have some more milk then. Sunshine.” 

“ It isn’t milk ! it’s sack,” said the child, promptly, hold- 
ing out her small yellow mug with a royal air. ^^Are the 
capons good, Grumio ? ” 

^^They are, my lamb, they are,” replied the Captain. 

Oncommon good they are, to be sure, and me not knowin’ 
to this day what capons was. A little more ? Yes, Pigeon 
Pie, I will take a little more, thank ye kindly.” 

I don’t think, Grumio, that you ought to call me lambs 
and pigeon pies just now,” remarked the Princess, judi- 
ciously. “ Ho you think it’s respectful ? they don’t in 
Shakespeare, I’m sure.” 

^^I won’t do it again. Honey — I mean Madam,” said the 
Captain, bowing with great humility. I beg your honora- 
ble majesty’s pardon, and I won’t never presume to — ” 

^^Yes, you will!” cried the Princess, flinging herself 
ncross the table at him, and nearly choking him with the 


10 


CAPTAIN JANUARY, 


sudden violence of her embrace. You shall call me pigeon 
pie, and anything else you like. You shall call me rye por- 
ridge, though I hate it, and it’s always full of lumps. And 
don’t ever look that way again ; it hills me ! ” 

The Captain quietly removed the clinging arms, and 
kissed them, and set the half-weeping child back in her place. 
“There, there, there ! ” he said soothingly. “ What a little 
tempest it is ! ” 

“ Say ^ delicate Ariel,’ ” sobbed Star. “ You haven’t said 
it to-day, and you always say it when you love me.” 

“Cream Cheese from the dairy of Heaven,” replied the 
Captain ; “ if I always said it when I loved you, I should be 
sayin’ it every minute of time, as well you kndV. But you 
are my delicate Ariel, so you are, and there ain’t nothin’ in 
the hull book as suits you better. So ! ” and his supper 
ended, the good man turned his chair again to the fire, and 
took the child, oi^e more smiling, upon his knee. 

“ And now, Ariel, what have you been doin’ all the time I 
was away ? Tell Daddy all about it.” 

Star pondered a moment, with her head on one side, and 
a finger hooked confidentially through the Captain’s button- 
hole. “Well,” she said, “I’ve had a very interesting time. 
Daddy Captain. First I cleaned the lamps, of course, and 
filled and trimmed them. And then I played Samson a 
good while ; and — ” 

“ And how might you play Samson ? ” inquired the Cap- 
tain. 

“With flies!” replied Star, promptly. “Heaps upon 
heaps, you know; ^With the jaw-bone of an ass have I 
slain a thousand men.’ The flies were the Philistines, and 
I took a clam-shell for the jaw-bone; it did just as well. 
And I made a song out of it, to one of the tunes you whis- 


STAB BRIGHT. 


11 


Sle : ‘With, the jaw-hone ! with the jaw-hone ! with the jaw- 
bone of an ass ! ^ It was very exciting/^ 

“Must ha’ been/’ said the Captain, dryly. “Well, 
Honeysuckle, what did you do then ? ” 

“ Oh, that took some time ! ” said the child. “ And after- 
ward I fished a little, but I didn’t catch anything, ’cept an 
old flounder, and he winked at me so, I put him back. And 
then I thought a long time — oh ! a very long time, sitting 
like Patience on the doorstep. And suddenly, Daddy Cap- 
tain, I thought about those boxes of clothes, and how you 
said they would be mine when I was big. And I measured 
myself against the doorpost, and found that I was very big. 
I thought I must be almost as big as you, but I s’pose I’d 
forgotten how big you were. So I went up, and opened one 
box, and I was just putting the dress on when you came in. 
You knew where it came from, of course. Daddy, the moment 
you saw it.” 

The Captain nodded gravely, and pulled his long mous- 
taches. 

“ Do you suppose my poor mamma wore it often ? ” the 
child went on eagerly. “Do you think she looked like me 
when she wore it ? Do I look as she did when you saw 
her ? ” 

“ Wal,” began the Captain, meditatively ; but Star ran bn 
without waiting for an answer. 

“Of course, though, she looked very different, because 
she was dead. You are quite very positively sure my poor 
mamma was dead. Daddy Captain ? ” 

“ She were,” replied the Captain, with emphasis. “ She 
were that, Pigeon Pie ! You couldn’t find nobody deader, 
not if you’d sarched for a week. Why, door nails, and Julius 
Caesar, and things o’ that description, would ha’ been lively 


12 


CAPTAIN JANUARY. 


compared with your poor ma when I see her. Lively! 
that’s what they’d ha’ been.” 

The child nodded with an air of familiar interest, wholly 
untinged with sadness. I think,” she said, laying her head 
against the old man’s shoulder, and curling one arm about 
his neck, think I should like to hear about it again, 
please. Daddy. It’s a long, long time since you told me the 
whole of it.” 

“Much as a month, I should think it must be,” assented 
the Captain. “Why, Snowdrop, you know the story by 
heart, better’n I do, I believe. ’Pears to me I’ve told it 
reg’lar, once a month or so, ever since you were old enough 
to understand it.” 

“Never mind!” said the Princess, with an imperious 
gesture. “ That makes no difference. I want it now ! ” 

“ Wal, wal I ” said the Captain, smoothing back the golden 
hair. “If you want it, why of course you must have it. 
Blossom ! But first I must light up, ye know. One star 
inside the old house, and the other atop of it : that’s what 
makes Light Island the lightest spot in the natural world. 
Sit ye here. Star Bright, and play Princess till Daddy comes 
back I ” 


CHAPTER 11. 


THE STORY. 

T he lamps were lighted, and the long, level rays flashed 
their golden warning over the murmuring darkness of 
the summer sea, giving cheer to many hearts on inbound 
barque or schooner. Bright indeed was the star on the top 
of the old lighthouse : but no less radiant was the face of 
little Star, as she turned it eagerly toward Captain January, 
and waited for the beginning of the well-known and well- 
loved story. 

‘^Wal,’^ said the Captain, when his pipe was refilled 
and drawing bravely. ^‘Let me see now! where shall I 
begin 

At the beginning I ” said Star, promptly. 

Jes’ so I ” assented the old man. Ten year ago this — 
^^No ! 'No ! 1 ” cried the child. “ That isn’t the beginning, 
Daddy ! That’s almost half-way to the middle. ^ When I 
was a young lad.' That’s the beginning.” 

"Bound to have it all, are ye. Honeysuckle?” said the 
obedient Captain. " Wall wal 1 when I were a young lad, 
I was a wild un, ye see. Treasure. My father, he ’prenticed 
me to a blacksmith, being big and strong for my years ; but 
I hadn’t no heart for the work. All I cared about was the 
sea, and boats, and sailors, and sea talk. I ran away down 
to the wharf whenever I could get a chance, and left my 
work. Why, even when I went to meetin’, ’stead o’ lis- 
tenin’ to the minister, I was lookin’ out the places about 

13 


14 


CAPTAIN JANUARY. 


them as go down to the sea in ships, ye know, and ^that 
leviathan whom Thou hast made,’ and all that. And there 
was Hiram, King of Tyre, and his ships ! Lord ! how I 
used to think about them ships, and wonder how they was 
rigged, and how many tons they were, and all about it. 
Yes ! I was a wild un, and no mistake ; and after a while I 
got so roused up — after my mother died, it was, and my 
father married again — ^-that I just run away, and shipped 
aboard of a whaler, bound for the north seas. Wal, Honey, 
’twould take me a week to tell ye about all my voya,ges. 
Long and short of it, ’twas the life I was meant for, and I 
done well in it. Had tumbles and toss-ups, here and there, 
same as everybody has in any kind o’ life ; but I done well, 
and by the time I was forty year old I was captain of the 
Bonito, East Indiaman, sailin’ from Hew York to Calcutta.” 

The Captain paused, and puffed gravely at his pipe for a 
few minutes. 

^^Well, Kosebud,” he continued presently, ^^you know 
what comes next. The Bonito was cast away, in a cyclone, 
on a desert island, and all hands lost, except me and one 
other.” 

^^Hear Daddy! poor Daddy!” cried the child, putting 
her little hands up to the weather-beaten face, and drawing 
it down to hers. “Don’t talk about that dreadful part. 
Go on to the next ! ” • 

“ ISTo, I won’t talk about it. Star Bright ! ” said the old 
man, very gravely. “ Eust place I can’t, and second place it 
ain’t fit for little maids todiear of. But I lived on that island 
fifteen year, — five year with my good mate Job Hotham, 
and ten year alone, after Job died. When a ship kem by, 
after that, and took me off, I’d forgot most everything, and 
was partly like the beasts that perish : but it kem back to 


THE STORY. 


It 

me. Slow, like, and by fits, as you may say ; but it kem 
back, all there was before, and maybe a good bit more ! ” 
‘'^Poor Daddy !’’ murmured the child again, pressing her 
soft cheek against the white beard. It’s all over now ! 
Don’t think of it ! I am here. Daddy, loving you : loving 
you all to pieces, you know ! ” 

The old man was silent for adew minutes, caressing the 
little white hands which lay like twin snowflakes in his 
broad, brown palm. Then he resumed cheerfully ; — 

^^And so. Cream Cheese from the dairy of Heaven, I 
kem home. Your old Daddy kem home, and landed on the 
same wharf he’d sailed from twenty-flve years before. Not 
direct, you understand, but takin’ steamer from New York, 
and so on. Wal, there wa’n’t nobody that knew me, or 
cared for me. Pather was dead, and his wife : and their 
children, as weren’t born when I sailed from home, were 
growed up and gone away. No, there wa’n’t nobody. VVal, 
I tried for a spell to settle down and live like other folks, 
but ’twa’n’t no use. I wasn’t used to the life, and I couldn’t 
stand it. Por ten years I hadn’t heard the sound of a 
human voice, and now they was buzz, buzzin’ all the time ; 
it seemed as if there was a swarm of wasps round my ears 
the everlastin’ day. Buzz ! buzz ! and then clack ! clack ! 
like an everlasting mill-clapper ; and folks starin’ at my 
brown face and white hair, and askin’ me foolish questions. 
I couldn’t stand it, that was all. I heard that a light- 
keeper was wanted here, and I asked for the place, and got 
it. And that’s all of the fust part. Peach Blossom.” 

The child drew a long breath, and her face glowed with 
eager anticipation. ^^And now, Daddy Captain,” she said, 
now you may say, ^ Ten year ago this fall ! ’ ” 

^^Ten year ago this fall,” said the Captain, meekly acqui* 


CAPTAIN JANUARY. 


escing, the fourteenth day of September, as ever was, J 
looks out from the tower, bein’ a-fillin’ of the lamps, and 
says I, ‘ There’s a storm cornin’ ! ’ Sol made all taut above 
and below, and fastened the door, and took my glass and 
went out on the rocks, to see how things looked. Wal, they 
looked pooty bad. There had been a heavy sea on for a 
couple o’ days, and the clouds that was coinin’ up didn’t 
look as if they was goin’ to smooth it down any. There 
was a kind o’ brassy look over everythin’, and when the 
wind began to rise, it warn’t with no nat’ral sound, but a 
kind of screech to it, on’arthly like. Wal> thar ! the wind 
did rise, and it riz to stay. In half an hour it was blowin’ half 
a gale ; in an hour it blew a gale, and as tough a one (barrin’ 
cyclones) as ever I see. ’T had like to ha’ blow me off my 
pins, half a dozen times. Then , nat’rally the sea kem up; 
and ’twas all creation on them rocks, now I tell ye. ‘ The 
sea, mountin’ to the welkin’s cheek ’ ; ye remember, Pigeon 
Pie ? ” 

The child nodded eagerly. Tempest ! ” she said, “ Act I, 
Scene 2 : ‘ Enter Prospero and Miranda.’ Go on. Daddy ! ” 
Wal, my Lily Elower,” continued the old man. “And 
the storm went on. It roared, it bellowed, and it screeched : 
it thumped and it kerwhalloped. The great sea^ would 
come bunt up agin the rocks, as if they was bound to go 
right through to Jersey City, which they used to say was 
the end of the world. Then they’d go scoopin’ back, as if 
they was callin’ all their friends and neighbors to help ; and 
then, bang ! they’d come at it agin. The spray was flyin’ 
in great white sheets, and whiles, it seemed as if the hull 
island was goin’ to be swallowed up then and thar. ’Tain’t 
nothin’ but a little heap o’ rocks, anyhow, to face the hull 
Mlantic Ocean gone mad : and on that heap o’ rocks was 


THE STORY, 


17 


Januarius Judkins, holdin’ on for dear life, and feelin’ like 
a koppergrass that had got lost in Niag^ry Falls.” 

Don’t say that name. Daddy ! ” interrupted the child. 

You know I don’t like it. Say ^ Captain January ’ ! ” 

I tell ye. Honeysuckle,” said the old man. I felt more 
like a sea-cook than a cap’n that night. A cap’n on a quarter 
deck’s a good thing ; but a cap’n on a pint o’ rock, out to 
sea in a northeast gale, might just as well be a fo’c’sle hand 
and done with it. Wal, as I was holdin’ on thar, I seed a 
flash to windward, as wasn’t lightning; and next minute 
kem a sound as wasn’t thunder nor yet wind nor sea.” 

The guns ! the guns ! ” cried the child, in great excite- 
ment. The guns of my poor mamma’s ship. And then 
you heard them again, Daddy ? ” 

Then I heard them agin ! ” the old man assented. And 
agin ! a flash, and a boom ! and then in a minute again, a 
flash and a boom ! ^ Oh, Lord I ’ says I. ‘ Take her by to the 
mainland, and put her ashore there ! ’ I says ; cause there’s 
a life-saving station thar, ye know. Blossom, and there 
might be some chance for them as were in her. But the 
Lord had His views, my dear, the Lord had His views I 
Amen ! so be it ! In another minute there kem a break in 
the clouds, and thar she was, cornin’ full head on, straight for 
Light Island. Oh ! my little Star, that was an awful thing 
to see. And I couldn’t do nothin’, you understand. Hot a 
livin’ airthly thing could I do, ’cept hide my face agin the 
rock I was dingin’ to, and say, ^ Dear Lord, take ’em easy ! 
It’s Thy will as they should be took,’ I says, ^and there 
ain’t no one to hender, if so be as they could. But take ’em 
easy, good Lord, and take ’em suddin ! ’ ” 

And He did ! ” cried the child. “ The good Lord did 
take ’em sudden, didn’t He, Daddy Captain ? ” 


18 


CAPTAIN JANUAPY, 


He did, my child ! said the old man, solemnly. They 
was all home, them that was goin’, in ten minutes from the 
time I saw the ship. You know the Roarin’ Bull, as sticks 
his horns out o’ water just to windward of us ? the cruelest 
rock on the coast, he is, and the treacherousest : and the 
ship struck him full and fair on the starboard quarter, and 
in ten minutes she was kindlin’ wood, as ye may say. The 
Lord rest their souls as went down in her I Amen ! ” 

Amen ! ” said little Star, softly. But she added in an 
eager tone, And now. Baddy, you are coming to me ! ” 
Booty soon, J ewel Bright ! ” said the old man, stroking 
the gold hair tenderly. I’m a-comin’ to you pooty soon. 
’Twas along about eight bells when she struck, and none so 
dark, for the moon had risen. After the ship had gone 
down, I strained my eyes through the driving spray, to see 
whether anything was cornin’ ashore. Presently I seed 
somethin’ black, driftin’ towards the rocks ; and lo ye, 
’twas a boat, bottom side up, and all hands gone down. 
Wal ! wal ! the Lord knew what was right : but it’s wuss by 
a deal to see them things than to be in ’em yourself, to my 
thinkin’. Wal, after a spell I looked agin, and there was 
somethin’ else a-driftin’ looked like a spar, it did; and 
somethin’ was lashed to it. My heart ! ’twas tossed about 
like a egg-shell, up and down, and here and thar ! ’Twas 
white, whatever was lashed to it, and I couldn’t take my 
eyes off’n it. ‘Mt can’t be alive ! ” I says. ‘ Whatever it 
is,’ I says. ^ But I’ll get it, if it takes a leg ! ’ I says. Bor 
down in my heart. Jewel, I knew they wouldn’t ha’ taken 
such care of anythin’ but what was alive, and they perishin’, 
but I didn’t think it could live in such a sea long enough to 
get ashore, Wal, I kep’ my eyes on that spar, and I see 
that it ’twas cornin’ along by the south side. Then I ran, 


THE STOBY. 


19 


or crawled, ’cording as the wind allowed me, back to the 
shod, and got a boat-hook and a coil o’ rope ; and then I 
dumb down as far as I dared, on the south rocks. I 
scooched down under the lee of a pint o’ rock, and made the 
rope fast round my waist, and the other end round the rock, 
and then I waited for the spar to come along. ’Twas hard 
to make out anythin’, for the water was all a white, bilin’ 
churn, and the spray flyin’ fit to blind you ; but bimeby I 
co’t sight of her cornin’ swashin’ along, now up on top of a 
big roarer, and then scootin’ down into the holler, and then 
up agin. I crep’ out on the rocks, grippin’ ’em for all I 
was wuth, with the boat-hook under my arm. The wind 
schreeched and clawed at me like a wildcat in a caniption 
fit, but I hadn’t been through those cyclones for nothin’. 
I lay down fiat and wriggled myself out to the edge, and 
thar I waited.” 

And the waves were breaking over you all the time ?” 
cried the child, with eager inquiry. 

“ Wal, they was that. Honeysuckle ! ” said the Captain. 

Bless ye, I sh’d ha’ been washed off like a log if ’t hadn’t 
ben for the rope. But that held ; ’twas a good one, and tied 
with a bowline, and it held. Wal, I lay thar, and all to 
wunst I see her cornin’ by like a fiash, close to me. ^ Now ! ’ 
says I, ^ ef ther’s any stuff in you, J. J udkins, let’s see it ! ’ 
says I. And I chucks myself over the side o’ the rock and 
grabs her with the boat-hook, and hauls her in. ^ All to- 
gether,’ I says. ^ Now, my hearties ! Yo heave ho!^ and I 
hed her up, and hauled her over the rocks and round under 
the lee of the p’int, before I stopped to breathe. How did 
I do it ? Don’t ask me. Jewel Bright ! I don’t know how 
I did it. There’s times when a man has strength given to 
him, seemin’ly, over and above human strength. ’Twas like 


20 


CAPTAIN JANUARY. 


as if the Lord ketched holt and helped me : maybe He did, 
seein’ what ’twas I was doing. Maybe He did ! ’’ He paused 
a moment in thought, but Star was impatient. 

“ Well, Daddy she cried. And then you looked and 
found it was — go on, Daddy dear ! ” 

I looked, continued the old man, and I found it was a 
sail, that had showed so white against the spar ; a sail, wrapped 
tight round somethin’. I cut the ropes, and pulled away 
the canvas and a tarpaulin that was inside that ; and thar 1 
seed — ” 

^^My poor mamma and me!” cried the child, joyously, 
clapping her hands. '^0 Daddy Captain, it is so delight- 
ful when you come to this part. And my poor mamma was 
dead? You are quite positively sure that she was dead. 
Daddy?” 

She were, my lamb ! ” replied the Captain, gravely. 

You needn’t never have no doubt about it. She had had 
a blow on^^the head, your poor ma had, from one o’ the bull’s 
horns, likely ; and I’ll warrant she never knowed anythin’ 
after it, poor lady I She was wrapped in a great fur cloak, 
the same as you have on your bed in winter. Blossom : and 
lyin’ all dost and warm in her cold arms, that held on still, 
though the life was gone out of ’em, was ” — the old man 
faltered, and brushed his rough hand across his eyes — was 
a — a little baby. Asleep, it seemed to be, all curled up 
like a rose on its mother’s breast, and its pooty eyes tight 
shut. I loosed the poor arms — they was like a stattoo’s, 
so round and white and cold ; and I took the child up in my 
arms ; and lo’ ye ! it opened its eyes and looked straight at 
me and laughed.” 

And it said. Daddy ? ” cried the delighted child, clap* 
ping her hands. Tell what it said I ” 


THE STORY. 


21 


It said ^ ’Tar/ ” th.e old man continued, in a hushed voice. 

^ ’Tar,’ it said as plain as I say it to you. ^ And ‘‘ Star ” 
it is ! ’ says I ; ^ for if ever a star shone on a dark night, it’s 
you, my pooty,’ I says. ^ Praise the Lord,’ I says. ^ Amen, 
so be it.’ Then I laid your poor ma in a corner, under the 
lee of the big rock, where the spray wouldn’t fly over her, 
and I covered her with the sail ; and then I took the fur 
cloak, seein’ the baby needed it and she didn’t, and wrapped 
it round the little un, and dumb back over the rocks, up to 
the house. And so, Honeysuckle — ” 

^^And so,” cried the child, taking his two great hands 
and putting them softly together, ^^so I came to be your 
little Star ! ” 

To be my little Star ! ” assented the old man, stooping 
to kiss the golden head. 

“ Your light and your joy ! ” exclaimed the child, laugh- 
ing with pleasure. 

‘^My light and my joy ! ” said the old man, solemnly. A 
light from heaven to shine in a dark place, and the Lord’s 
message to a sinful man.” 

He was silent for a little, looking earnestly into the 
child’s radiant face. Presently, ^‘You’ve been happy. Star 
Bright ? ” he asked. You haven’t missed nothin’ ? ” 

Star opened wide eyes of surprise at him. Of course 
I’ve been happy ! ” she said. Why shouldn’t I be ? ” 

“ You ain’t — I mean you haven’t mourned for your poor 
ma, have ye. Jewel ? ” Pie was still looking curiously at 
her, and his look puzzled her. 

^^Ho,” she said, after a pause. Of course not. I never 
knew my poor mamma. Why should I mourn for her ? She 
is in heaven, and I am very glad. You say heaven is much 
nicer than here, so it must be pleasanter for my poor mamma j 


22 


CAPTAIN JANUARY. 


and I don’t need her, because I have you, Daddy. But go 
on, now, please. Daddy dear. ^ Next day ’ — ” 

^^Next day,” resumed the obedient Captain, “the sky was 
bright and clear, and only the heavy sea, and your poor ma, 
and you. Peach Blossom, to tell what had happened, so far 
as I seed at fust. Bimeby, when I went out to look, I found 
other things.” 

“ My poor papa ! ” said Star, with an air o^ great satisfac- 
tion. 

The Captain nodded. “ Yer poor pa,” he said, “and two 
others with him. How did I know he was your poor pa ? 
Along of his havin’ your poor ma’s pictur hung round his 
neck. And a fine-lookin’ man he was, to be sure ! ” 

“And his name was ‘H. M.’ !” cried the child, eagerly. 

“Them was the letters of it!” assented the Captain. 
“Worked on his shirt and hank’cher, so fine as ever was. 
Well, Jewel Bright, when I seed all this, I says, ^January,’ 
says I, ^here’s Christian corpses, and they must have 
Christian burial ! ’ I says. So I brought ’em all up to the 
house, and laid ’em comfortable ; and then I gave you a 
good drink of warm milk (you’d been sleepin’ like a little 
angil, and only waked up to smile and crow and say ^’Tar ! ’), 
and gave you a bright spoon to play with 5 and then I rowed 
over to shore to fetch the minister and the crowner, and 
everybody else as was proper. You don’t care about this 
part. Honeysuckle, and you ain’t no need to; but everything 
was done decent and Christian, and your parents and the 
other two laid peaceful under the big pine-tree. Then 
the minister, when ’twas all done, he says to me, ‘ And now, 
my friend,’ he says, ^ I’ll relieve you of the child, as would 
be a care to you, and I can find some one to take charge of 
it!’ he says. ^Meanin’ no disrespect,. Minister,’ 1 says, 


THE STORY. 


23 


‘ don’t think it ! The Lord has His views, j^-ouTl allow, most 
times, and He had ’em when He sent the child here. He 
could have sent her ashore by the station jest as easy,’ I 
says, ‘ if so be’t had seemed best ; but He sent her to me,’ I 
says, ^and I’ll keep her.’ ^But how can you bring up a 
child ? ’ he says, ^ alone, here on a rock in the ocean ? ’ he 
says. ^ I’ve been thinking that over. Minister,’ I says, ‘ ever 
since I holt that little un in my arms, takin’ her from her 
dead mother’s breast,’ I says ; ‘ and I can’t see that there’s 
more than three things needed to bring up a child, — the 
Lord’s help, common sense, and a cow. The last two I hev, 
and the fust is likely to be round when a man asks for it ! ’ 
I says. So then we shakes hands, and he doesn’t say noth- 
in’ more, ’cept to pray a blessin’ for me and for the child. 
And the blessin’ kdm, and the blessin’ stayed. Star Bright 5 
and there’s the end of the story, my maid. 

“ And now it’s time these two eyes were shut, and only 
the* top star shinin’ in the old tower. Grood night, Jewel! 
Good night, and God bless you I ” 


CHAPTER III. 


INTRODTJCING IMOGEN AND BOB. 

'‘TMOGEN said Star, looking up from her book, 

- 1 - don-t believe you have been listening ! 

Imogen looked up meekly, but made no attempt to deny 
the charge. 

You must listen ! said the child, sternly. First place, 
it’s beautiful : and besides, it’s very rude not to listen when 
people reads. And you ought not to be rude, Imogen ! ” 
After which short lecture. Star turned to her book again, — 
a great book it was, lying open on the little pink calico lap; 
— and went on reading, in her clear childish voice ; — 

“ ‘ Over hill, over dale, 

Thorough hush, thorough brier, 

Over park, over pale, 

Thorough flood, thorough fire, 

I do wander everywhere, 

Swifter than the moony sphere; 

And I serve the fairy queen. 

To dew her orbs upon the green ’ ; — 

Do you know what a fairy is, Imogen ? ” asked Star, look- 
ing up again suddenly. 

But this time it was very evident that Imogen (who was, 
in truth, a large white cow, with a bell round her neck) 
was paying no attention whatever to the reading ; for she 
had fairly turned her back, and was leisurely cropping the 
24 


IMOGEN AND BOB. 


25 


short grass, sv^aying her tail in a comfortable and reflective 
manner the while. 

Star sprang to her feet, and, seizing the delinquent’s 
horns, shook them with all her might. 

‘^How dare you turn your back when I am reading!” 
she cried. “ I’m just ashamed of you ! You’re a disgrace 
to me, Imogen. Why, you’re as ignorant as a — • as — as a 
lobster ! and you a great cow with four whole legs. A — ' 
a — ah ! shame on you ! ” 

Imogen rubbed her head deprecatingly against the small 
pink shoulder, and uttered a soft and apologetic ^^moo”; 
but Star was not ready to be mollified yet. 

“ And you know it’s my own book, too ! ” she continued, 
reproachfully. “ My own Willum Shakespeare, that I love 
more — well, no I not more than I love you, Imogen, but 
just as much, and almost nearly half as much as I love 
Daddy Captain. 

But after all,” she added, with a smile flitting over her 
frowning little face, after all, you poor dear, you are 
only a cow, and I' don’t suppose you know.” And then she 
hugged Imogen, and blew a little into one of her ears, to 
make her wink it, and the two were very friendly again. 

“ Perhaps you would like to know, Imogen,” said Star, confi« 
dentially, seating herself once more on the ground, ^^ why I 
am so fond of Willum Shakespeare. So I will tell you. It 
is really part of my story, but Daddy Captain didn’t get as 
far as that last night, so I think I will tell it to you. 
Well ! ” she drew a long breath of enjoyment, and, clasping 
her hands round her knees, settled herself for a ^^good 
talk.” 

Well, Imogen : you see, at first I was a little baby, and 
didn’t know anything at all. But by and by I began to 


26 


CAPTAIN JANUABY. 


grow bigj and then Daddy Captain said to himself, ^ Here’s 
a child/ he says, ^and a child of gentlefolks, and she 
mustn’t grow up in ignorance, and me doing my duty by her 
poor pa and ma,’ he says. So he rows over to the town, 
and he goes to the minister (the same minister who came 
over here before), -and he says, ^ Good morning. Minister ! ’ 
and the minister shakes him by the hand hearty, and says, 
^ Why, Captain January ! ’ he says, ^ I’m amazing glad to see 
you. And how is the child ? ’ And Daddy says, ^ The 
child is a-growing with the flowers,’ he says ; ^ and she’s 
a-growing like the flowers. Show me a rose that’s as sweet 
and as well growed as that child,’ he says, ^and I’ll give 
you my head. Minister.’ That’s the way Daddy talks, you 
know, Imogen. And then he told the minister how he 
didn’t want the child (that was me, of course) to grow up 
in ignorance, and how he wanted to teach me. And the 
minister asked him was he qualified to teach. ‘Not yet, 
I ain’t ! ’ says Daddy Captain, ^ but I’m a-going to be. I 
want a book, or maybe a couple of books, that’ll edicate me 
in a manner all round ! ’ he says. ‘ I couldn’t do with a lot 
of ’em,’ he says, ^ cause I ain’t used to it, and it makes 
things go round inside my head. But I think I could tackle 
two, if they was fustrate,’ he says. The minister laughed, 
and told Daddy he wanted a good deal. Then he a,sked him 
if he had the Good Book. That’s the Bible, you know, 
Imogen. Daddy Captain won’t let me read that to you, 
because you are a beast that perish. Poor dear ! ” she leaned 
forward and kissed Imogen’s pink nose. “ And Daddy said of 
course he had that, only the letters weren’t so clear as they 
used to be, somehow, perhaps along of getting wet in his 
weskit pocket, being he carried it along always. So the 
minister gave him a new big beautiful Bible, Imogen ! It 


IMOGEN AND BOB. 


27 


isn’t so new 7ioWj but it’s just as big and beautiful, and I 
love it. And then he thought for a long time, the minister 
did, walking about the room and looking at all the books. 
The whole room was full of books. Daddy says, all on 
shelves, ’cept some on the floor and the table and the chairs. 
It made his head go round dreadful to see them all. Daddy 
says (I mean Daddy’s head), and think of anybody reading 
them. He says he doesn’t see how in creation the minister 
manages to keep his bearings, and look out for a change in 
the wind, and things that have to be done, and read all those 
books too. Well!” she kissed Imogen’s nose again, from 
sheer enjoyment, and threw her head back with a laugh of 
delight. ^^I’m coming to it now, Imogen !” she cried. ^^At 
last the minister took down a big book — Oh ! you precious 
old thing, how I love you ! ” (this apostrophe was addressed 
to the quarto volume which she was now hugging raptur- 
ously), ^^and said, ^Well, Captain January, here’s the best 
book in the world, next to the Good Book ! ’ he says. 
^You’ll take this,’ he says, ^as my gift to you and the 
child ! and with these two books to guide you, the child’s 
edication won’t go far wrong ! ’ he says, and then he gave 
Daddy the dictionary too, Imogen; but I shan’t tell you 
about that, because it’s a brute, and I hate and ’spise it. 
But — well ! so, you see, that was the way I got my Willum 
Shakespeare, my joy and my pride, my — ” 

At this moment a shadow fell upon the grass, and a deep, 
gruff voice was heard, saying, Star, ahoy ! ” The child 
started up, and turned to meet the new-comer with a joy- 
ous smile. Why, Bob ! ” she nried, seizing one of his 
hands in both of hers, and dancing round and round him. 

Where did you come from ? Why aren’t you on the 
boat ? ” 


28 


CAPTAIN JANUABY. 


“Boat’s aground!” replied the person addressed as Bob. 
He spoke in short, jerky sentences. He was dressed as a 
seafaring man; had wide, helpless-looking brown eyes, an 
apologetic smile, and a bass voice of appalling depth and 
power. “Boat’s aground,” he repeated, seating himself on 
the grass and looking about for a stem of grass long enough 
to put in his mouth. “ Hard and fast. Waiting for tide to 
turn ; thought I’d come, pass time o’ day.” 

“ And how came you to run her aground ? ” inquired the 
child, severely. “ A pretty pilot you are I Why, I could 
steer her myself better than that.” 

‘ ^ Bog 1 ” replied the man, in a meek and muffled roar. 
Then finding a bit of sorrel, he fell upon it with avidity, 
and seemed to think he had said enough. 

“ H’m ! ” said Star, with a disdainful little sniff. “ You’d 
better get Daddy to steer your boat. He doesn’t mind fog. 
Are there many people on board ? ” she added, with an air 
of interest. 

“ Heaps ! ” replied Bob, succinctly. Then, after a pause 
of meditative chewing : “ Like to go aboard ? take ye — boat 
— Cap’n willin’.” 

“ No, I don’t want to go aboard, thank you 1 ” said Star. 
“I don’t like people. But you might just row me round 
her once, Bob,” she added. “ £ think. I should like that. But 
ve must wait till Daddy comes, of course.” 

“ Cap’n round ? ” inquired Bob. 

“ He’s setting the lobster-pots,” replied the child. “ He’ll 
be back soon. Bob,” she added irrelevantly a moment 
after, “ I never noticed before that you looked like Imogen. 
Why, you are the very image of her, Bob 1 Your eyes and 
your expression are exactly the same.” 

Bob raised his eyes and surveyed Imogen with a critics' 


IMOGEN AND BOB. 


29 


air. “ Fine cow ! ” he said at last. “ D’no’s I mind — 't she 
doosn’t/^ 

Isn’t she a fine cow ! ” cried little Star, patting the meek 
and graceful head of her favorite. I don^t believe there’s 
another such cow in the world. I know there isn’t! I 
think,” she added, “ I will take a little ride on her, while 
we are waiting for Daddy Captain. Will you put me up, 
please. Bob ? ” 

The obedient Bob lifted her as if she were a ball of 
fchistle-down, and set her on the broad back of the good 
cow, who straightway began to pace sedately along the bit 
of meadow, following the guidance of the small hands which 
clasped her horns. Ah ! who will paint me that picture, as 
my mind’s eye sees it ? The blue of sky and sea, the ripples 
breaking in silver on silver sand, the jewelled green, where 
the late dandelions flecked the grass with gold : and in the 
midst the lovely, laughing child, mounted on the white cow, 
tossing her cloudy golden hair, and looking back with eyes 
of delight toward her companion. 

The beauty of it all filled the eyes and the heart of 
Captain January, as he came up among the rocks. He 
jjaused, and stood for some time in silence, watching the 
little well-beloved figure. ^WVall ! ” he said, •'^if that ain’t 
one of the young-eyed cherubims, then I never seed one, 
that’s all.” 

At this moment Star caught sight of him. ^'0 Daddy,” 
she cried. ^^My Daddy Captain, I’m having such a fine 
ride ! It isn’t quite as high as a heaven-kissing hill, but it’ s 
a heaven-kissing cow, for Imogen is really very high. Dear 
Daddy, won’t you come and try it? there’s plenty of 
room ! ” 

Thanky, Peach Blossom ! ” said the Captain, advancing. 


30 


CAPTAIN JANUARY, 


fi.nd greeting the apologetic Bob with a hearty shake of the 
hand. “ Thanky kindly, but I don’t believe I will try it 
Ridin’ was never, so to say, in my line. I’m stiddy enough 
on my own pins, but defend me from tryin’ to git about on 
another critter’s. And how’s all with you. Bob ? and why 
aint you aboard the Huntress ^ ” 

Bob in the fewest possible words related the mishap 
which had befallen the boat, and asked if he might take 
Missy out to see her. 

To be sure ! to be sure ! ” said Captain January. “ That’ll 
be a nice trip for ye. Honeysuckle. Put on your bunnit 
and go with Bob. He’ll take good care of ye. Bob will.” 

And so, by what seemed the merest chance, that lovely 
afternoon, little Star went with Bob Peet, in his old black 
boat, to see the steamer Huntress aground on a sand-bank 
off the main shore. 

The sea lay all shining and dimpling in the afternoon 
light, and not a cloud was to be seen overhead. Here and 
there a white gull was slowly waving his wings through 
the clear air, and little fish came popping their heads out of 
the water, just for the pleasure of popping them back again. 
Star dipped her hands in the blue crystal below, and sang 
little snatches of song, being light of heart and without a 
care in the world. They were no nursery songs that she 
sang, for she considered herself to have outgrown the very 
few Mother Goose ditties which Captain January had 
treasured in his mind and heart ever since his mother sang 
them to him, all the many years ago. She was tired of 

“ Jacky Barber’s coming to town: 

Clear away, gentlemen! clear away, gentlemen! 

One foot up and t’other foot down, 

Jacky Barber’s coming to town.” 


IMOGEN AND BOB. 


31 


But she loved the scraps of sea-song that the old Captain 
still hummed over his work: Baltimore,” and “Blow a 
Man Down,” and half a dozen other salt-water ditties : and 
it might have been strange to less accustomed ears than Bob 
Beet’s to hear the sweet child- voice carolling merrily : — 

“Boney was a warrior, 

Weigh ! heigh ! oh I 
Boney was a warrior, 

John Francois 1 

Boney whipped the Kooshians, 

Weigh ! heigh I oh I 

Boney whipped the Prooshians, 

John Francois I 
Boney went to Elba, 

Weigh ! heigh ! oh I ” etc. 

Bob’s oars kept time with the song, and his portentous 
voice thundered out the refrain with an energy which 
shook the little skiff from stem to stern. By the time that 
“ Boney ” was safely consigned to his grave in sunny France, 
they were nearing the flats on which the steamer Huntress 
lay, quietly awaiting the turn of the tide. 

Star knew the great white boat well, for twice a day she 
went thundering past Light Island, churning the quiet blue 
water into foam with her huge paddles, on her way to and 
from the gay summer city which all the world came to visit. 
Nearly every day the child would run out on the south rocks 
to wave a greeting to some of her acquaintances among the 
crew ; for she knew them all, from the black-bearded cap- 
tain down to the tiniest cabin-boy ; and they, for their part, 
were always eager, — good souls ! — for a smile or a nod from 
the “ Star of Light Island.” Not a man of them but envied 
Bob Beet his privilege of going when he pleased to the light- 


82 


CAPTAIN JANUARY, 


house rock. For Captain January was not fond of visitors, 
and gave them no encouragement to come, Bob Beet being 
the single exception to the rule. The Captain liked Bob 
because he was not given to clatter,” and ‘^knew how to 
belay his jaw.” 

“I do love to see a man belay his jaw!” said Captain 
January, unconsciously quoting the words of another and a 
more famous captain, the beloved David Dodd. So Bob was 
free to come and go as he liked, and to smoke his pipe in 
sociable silence for hours at a time, within the walls of 
Storm Castle. 

Stop here, Bob ! ” said Star, with an imperious motion of 
her hand. “ I donT want to go any nearer.” The obedient 
Bob lay on his oars, and both looked up at the great boat, 
now only a few yards away. The decks were crowded with 
passengers, who leaned over the railings, idly chatting, or 
watching the water to see if the tide had turned. 

Sight o’ folks,” said Bob Beet, nodding toward the after- 
deck, which seemed a solid mass of human beings. 

Yes,” said the child, speaking half to herself, in a low 
tone. It’s just like the Tower of Babel, isn’t it ? I should 
think they would be afraid. ^ And the Lord scattered them 
abroad from thence upon the face of ail the earth.’ And 
it’s so stupid ! ” she added, after a moment’s pause. Why 
don’t they stay at home ? Haven’t they any homes to stay 
at ? Who takes care of their homes while they go sailing 
about like loons ? ” 

Folks likes to v’yage,” said Bob Beet, with mild tolera- 
tion. Heaps — nothin’ t’ do — hot spells — v’yages.” He 
added, with an approach to a twinkle in his meek and cow- 
like eyes, Try it — some day — git tired of ol’ Cap’n — ol’ 
rock — pooty soon — take ye — v’yage — 


IMOGEN AND BOB. 


33 


His speech was interrupted by a sudden and violent dash 
of water in his face. 

Take that ! ” cried Star, panting with fury, and flinging 
the water at him with all her small might. wish it was 
sharp stones, instead of just water. I wish it was needles, 
and jagged rocks, and quills upon the fretful porkypine, so 
I do ! How dare you say such things to me. Bob Peet ? How 
dare you ? ” She paused, breathless, but with flashing eyes 
and burning cheeks ; while Bob meekly mopped his face 
and head with a red cotton handkerchief, and shook the 
water from his ears, eying her the while with humble and 
deprecatory looks. 

^^Ko offence,’’ he muttered, in apologetic thunder-rumble. 
*^Poor ol’ Bob — eh. Missy ? sorry, beg pardon ! Never no 
more. Didn’t mean it — nohow ! ’’ 

The tempest subsided as suddenly as it rose, and Star, 
with a forgiving nod, took out her own little handkerchief 
and daintily wiped a few drops from her victim’s forehead. 

You’re so stupid. Bob,” she said frankly, ^Hhat I sup- 
pose I ought not to get angry with you, any more than I 
would with Imogen, though even she provokes me some- 
times. So I forgive you. Bob. But if you ever say such a 
thing again as my getting tired of Daddy, I’ll kill you. So 
now you know ! ” 

Jes’ so ! ” assented Bob. Nat’rally ! To b’ sure ! ” 
The sudden splashing of the water had caught many eyes 
on the deck of the Huntress^ and people admired the play- 
fulness ” of the pretty child in the little boat. One pair of 
eyes, however, was sharper than the rest. 

Just look at that child, Isabel ! ” said a tall, bronzed 
gentleman who was leaning over the taff-rail. ^^She is a 
perfect little fury ! I never saw a pair of eyes flash so. 


84 


CAPTAIN JANUABY, 


Very fine eyes they are, too. A very beautiful child, Isabel ! 
why, my dear, what is the matter? You are ill — faint! 
let me — ” 

But the lady at his side pushed his arm away, and leaned 
forward, her eyes fixed upon Star’s face. 

George,” she said in a low, trembling voice, I want to 
know who that child is. I must know, George I Find out 
for me, dear, please ! ” 

As she spoke, she made a sign towards the boat, so ear- 
nest, so imperative, that it caught Star’s wandering gaze. 
Their eyes met, and the little child in the pink calico frocK, 
and the stately lady in the India shawl, gazed at each other 
as if they saw nothing else in the world. The gentleman 
looked from one to the other in amazement. 

Isabel 1 ” he whispered, the child looks like you. 
What can this mean ? ” 

But little Star, in the old black boat, cried, ^'^Take ms 
away. Bob ! take me home to my Daddy Captain I Quick I 
do you hear ? ” 

Jes’ so 1 ” said Bob i^aet. Nat’raliy ! ” 


CHAPTER IVo 


THE VISITo 

A GRAY day ! soft gray sky, like the breast oi a dove ; 

sheeny gray sea, with gleams of steel running across ; 
trailing skirts of mist shutting off the mainland, leaving 
Light Island alone with the ocean; the white tower 
gleaming spectral among the folding mists; the dark 
pine-tree pointing a sombre finger to heaven; the wet, 
black rocks, from which the tide had gone down, hud- 
dling together in fantastic groups as if to hide their 
nakedness. 

On the little beach two men were slowly pacing up and 
down, up and down, one silent, the other talking earnestly. 
Old men, both, with white, reverend hair : one slender and 
small, the other a son of Anak, big and brawny, — Captain 
January and the minister. 

It was the minister who had been speaking. But now he 
had done, and they took a few turns in silence before the 
Captain spoke in reply. 

Minister,’^ he said — and his voice was strangely altered 
from the gruff, hearty tone which had greeted his guest 
fifteen minutes before — Minister, I ain’t a man that’s 
used to bearin’ much talk, and it confuses my mind a bit. 
There’s things inside my head that seems to go round and 
round, sometimes, and put me out. Now, if it isn’t askin’ 
too much. I’ll git you to go over them p’ints again. Slow, 
like ! slow. Minister, bearin’ in mind that I’m a slow man, 


35 


36 


CAPTAIN JANUABT. 


and not used to it. This — this lady, she come to youi 
house yisterday, as ever was ? 

“Yesterday,’^ assented the minister; and his voice had 
a tender, almost (jompassionate tone, as if he were speaking 
to a child. 

And a fine day it were ! ’’ said Captain January. ^^Wind 
steady, sou’ west by sou’. Fog in the mornin’, and Bob 
Beet run the Huntress aground on the bank. I never liked 
fog, Minister ! ^ Give me a gale,’ I’d say, * or anythin’ short 
of a cyclone,’ I’d say, ‘but don’t give me fog !’ and see now, 
how it’s come about ! But it lifted, soon as the harm were 
done. It lifted, and as fine a day as ever you see.” 

The minister looked at him in some alarm, but the old 
man’s keen blue eyes were clear and intelligent, and met 
his gaze openly. 

“You’re thinkin’ I’m crazy. Minister, or maybe drunk,” 
he said quietly ; “ but I ain’t neither one. I’m on’y takin’ 
it by and large. When a man has been fifteen year on a 
desert island, ye see, he learns to take things by and large. 
But I never see good come of a fog yet. Amen ! so be it ! 
And so Cap’n ISTazro brought the lady to your house. Min- 
ister ? ” 

“Captain Kazro came with her,” said the minister, “and 
also her husband, Mr. Morton, and Bobert Beet, the pilot. 
Mrs. Morton had seen little Star in Beet’s boat, and was 
greatly and painfully struck by the child’s likeness to a 
beloved sister of hers, who had, it was supposed, perished 
at sea, with her husband and infant child, some ten years 
ago.” 

“Ten year ago,” repeated Captain January, passing his 
liand across his weather-beaten face, which looked older, 
somehow, than it was wont to do. “ Ten year ago this 


THE VISIT 


37 


September. ^He holdeth the waters in the hollow of his 
hand/ Go on. Minister. The lady thought my little Star^ 
as the Lord dropped out of the hollow of His hand into my 
arms ten years ago, had a look of her sister,” 

‘‘She was so strongly impressed by it,” the minister 
continued quietly, “ that, failing to attract Peet’s attention 
as he rowed away, she sent for the captain, and begged him 
to give her all the information he could about the child. 
What she heard moved her so deeply that she became con- 
vinced of the child's identity with her sister's lost infant. 
As soon as Peet returned after putting Star ashore, she 
questioned him even more closely. He, good fellow, re- 
fused to commit himself to anything which he fancied you 
might not like, but he told her of my having performed the 
last rites over the mortal remains of the child's parents, and 
Mr. Morton wisely counselled her to go at once to me, in- 
stead of coming here, as She at first wished to do. After my 
interview with her, I am bound to say — ” 

“Easy now. Minister!” interrupted Captain January. 
“I'm an old man, though I never knowed it till this day. 
Easy with this part ! ” 

“ I am bound to say,” continued the minister, laying his 
hand kindly on his companion's arm, “ that I think there is 
little doubt of Star's being Mrs. Morton's niece.” 

“ And what if she be ? ” exclaimed the old sailor, turning 
with a sudden violence which made the gentle minister 
start back in alarm. “ What if she be ? what have the 
lady done for her niece ? did she take her out o' the sea, as 
raged like all the devils let loose, and death itself a-hangin' 
round and fairly howlin' for that child ? did she stand on 
that rock, blind and deef and e'ena'most mazed with the 
heatin' and roarin' and on earthly screechin' all round, and 


38 


CAPTAIN JANUABY. 


take that child from its dead mother’s breast, and vow to 
the Lord, as helped in savin’ it, to do as should be done by 
it ? has she prayed, and worked, and sweat, and laid awake 
nights, for fear that child’s fingers should ache, this ten 
year past ? has she — ” the old man’s voice, which had been 
ringing out like a trumpet, broke off suddenly. The angry 
fire died out of his blue eyes, and he bowed his head humbly. 

ask yer pardon, Minister!” he said quietly, after a 
pause. humbly ask yer pardon. I had forgotten the 
Lord, ye see, for all I was talkin’ about Him so glib. I 
was takin’ my view, and forgettin’ that the Lord had His. 
He takes things by and large, and nat’rally He takes ’em 
larger than mortal man kin do. Amen ! so be it ! ” He 
took off his battered hat, and stood motionless for a few 
moments, with bent head: nor was his the only silent 
prayer that went up from the little gray beach to the gray 
heaven above. 

^^Well, Minister,” he said presently, in a calm and even 
cheerful voice, and so that bein’ all clear to your mind, the 
lady have sent you to take my — to take her niece — the 
little lady (and a lady she were from her cradle) back to 
her. Is that the way it stands ? ” 

Oh, no I no indeed ! ” cried the kind old minister. Mrs. 
Morton would do nothing so cruel as that. Captain January. 
She is very kind-hearted, and fully appreciates all that you 
have done for the little girl. But she naturally wants to 
see the child, and to do whatever is for her best advantage.” 

For the child’s advantage. That’s it ! ” repeated Captain 
January. That’s somethin’ to hold on by. Go on, Minis- 
ter ! ” 

So she begged me to come over alone,” continued the 
minister, ^Ho — to prepare your mind, and give you time to 


THE VISIT. 


39 


fcMnk the matter well over. And she and Mr. Morton were 
to follow in the course of an hour, in Eobert Feet’s boat. 
He is a very singular fellow, that Feet ! ” added the good 
man, shaking his head. Do you think he is quite in his 
right mind ? He has taken the most inveterate dislike to 
Mr. and Mrs. Morton, and positively refuses to speak to 
either of them. I could hardly prevail upon him to bring 
them over here, and yet he fell into a strange fury when I 
spoke of getting some one else to bring them. He — he is 
quite safe, I suppose ? ” 

Wal, yes !” replied Captain January, with a half smile. 
“ Bob’s safe, if any one is. Old Bob ! so he doesn’t like 
them, eh ? ” 

At that moment his eye caught something, and he said in 
an altered voice, “ Here’s Bob’s boat coming now. Minister, 
and the lady and gentleman in her.” 

They must have come much more rapidly than I did,” 
said the minister, “and yet my boy rows well enough. 
Compose yourself, January! this is a heavy blow for 
you, my good friend. Compose yourself! Things are 
strangely ordered in this world. ^ We see through a glass 
darkly’!” 

“Not meanin’ to set my betters right. Minister,” said 
Captain January, “I never seed as it made any difference 
whether a man seed or not, darkly or howsumdever, so long 
as the Lord made His views clear. And He’s makin’ ’em ! ” 
he added. “ He’s makin’ ’em. Minister ! Amen ! so be it ! ” 
And quietly and courteously, ten minutes later, he was 
bidding his visitors welcome to Light Island, as if it were a 
kingdom, and he the crownless monarch of it. “ It’s a poor 
place. Lady ! ” he said, with a certain stately humility, as he 
helped Mrs. Morton out of the boat. “ Good anchorage for 


40 


CAPTAIN JAN U APT. 


a shipwrecked mariner like me, but no place for ladies or — 
or them as belongs to ladies.” 

Captain January!” cried Mrs. Morton, who was a 
tall, fair woman, with eyes like Star’s own. What shall I 
say to you ? I must seem to you so cruel, so heartless, to 
come and ask for the child whom you have loved and cared 
for so long. Por that is what I have come for 1 I must 
speak frankly, now that I see your kind, honest face. I 
have come to take my sister’s child, for it is my duty to 
do so.” She laid both hands on the old man’s arm, and 
looked up in his face with pleading, tearful eyes. 

But Captain January’s face did not move as he answered 
quietly, ‘‘It is your duty. Lady. hTo question o’ that, to 
my mind or any. But,” he added, with a wistful look, “ I’ll 
ask ye to do it easy. Lady. It’ll be sudden like for the — 
for the young lady. And — she ain’t used to bein’ took sud 
den, my ways bein’ in a manner slow. You’ll happen find 
her a little quick. Lady, in her ways, she bein’ used to a 
person as was in a manner slow, and havin’ to be quick for 
two, so to say. But it’s the sparkle o’ gold. Lady, and a 
glint o’ diamonds.” 

But the lady was weeping, and could not answer ; so Cap- 
tain January turned to her husband, who met him with a 
warm grasp of the hand, and a few hearty and kindly words. 

“ And now I’ll leave ye with the minister for a minute. 
Lady and Gentleman,” the Captain said ; “ for Bob Beet is 
a-signalin’ me as if he’d sprung aleak below the water line, 
and all hands goin’ to the bottom.” 

Bob, who had withdrawn a few paces after beaching his 
boat, was indeed making frantic demonstrations to attract 
the Captain’s attention, dancing and snapping his fingers, 
and contorting his features in strange and hideous fashion. 


THE VISIT. 


41 


“Well, Bob,” said the old man, walking up to him, “ what^s 
up with you, and why are ye hoistin’ and lowerin’ your jib 
in that onearthly fashion ? ” 

Bob Beet seized him by the arm, and led him away up 
the beach. “ Cap’n,” he said, looking round to make sure 
that they were out of hearing of the others, “ I can’t touch 
a lady — not seamanly ! But ’f you say the word — knock 
gen’l’m’n feller — middle o’ next week. Say the word, 
Cap’n! Good’s a meal o’ vittles t’me — h’ist him over 
cliff i” 


CHAPTER V. 


CAPTAIN JANUARY S STAR. 


ND where was little Star, while all this was going on 



down on the beach ? Oh, she had been having a 
delightful afternoon. It was cloudy, and Daddy was going 
to be busy, so she had determined to spend an hour or so in 
her own room, and enjoy all the delights of “ dressing up.” 
For the great chest that had been washed ashore from the 
wreck, the day after she herself had come to the island, was 
full of clothes belonging to her “poor mamma” ; and as we 
have seen, the little woman was fully inclined to make use 
of them. 

Beautiful clothes they were ; rich silks -and velvets, with 
here and there cloudy laces and strange webs of Eastern 
gauze. For she had been a beautiful woman, this poor 
mamma, and it had been the delight of Hugh Maynard, her 
proud and fond husband, to deck his lovely wife in all rare 
and precious stuffs. Some of them were stained with sea- 
water, and many of the softer stuffs were crumpled and 
matted hopelessly, but that mattered little to Star. Her 
eyes delighted in soft, rich colors, and she was never weary 
of turning them over and over, trying them on, and “ play- 
ing s’pose ” with them. 

“ S’pose,” she would say, “ my poor mamma was going to 
a banquet, like the Capulet one, or Macbeth’s. Oh, no! 
’cause that would have been horrid, with ghosts and daggers 
and things. S’pose it was the Capulets ! Then she would 


42 


CAPTAIN JANUABY'S STAB. 


43 


put on this pink silk. Isn’t it pretty, and soft, and creamy ! 
Just like the wild roses on the south side of the meadow, 
that I made a wreath of for Imogen on her birthday. Dear 
Imogen! it was so becoming to her. Well, so my poor 
mamma put it on — so! and then she paced through the 
hall, and all the lords turned round and said, ^ Mark’st thou 
yon lady ? ’ ’Cause she was so beautiful, you know. This 
is the way she paced I ” and then the little creature would 
fall to pacing up and down the room, dragging the volumi- 
nous pink folds behind her, her head thrown back, and a look 
of delighted pride lighting up her small face. 

It was the funniest little place, this room of Star’s, the 
queerest, quaintest little elfin bower I It was built out from 
the south side of the tower, almost like a swallow’s nest, 
only a swallow’s nest has no window looking out on the blue 
sea. There was a little white bed in a corner, and a neat 
chest of drawers, and a wash-stand, all made by Captain 
January’s skilful hands, and all shining and spotless. The 
bare floor was shining too, and so was the little looking-glass 
which hung upon the wall. And beside the looking-glass, 
and above it, and in fact all over the walls, were trophies 
and wonders of all kinds and descriptions. There was the 
starfish with ten legs, pinned up in sprawling scarlet ; and 
there, beside him, the king of all the sea-urchins, resplen- 
dent with green and purple horns. And here were ropes of 
shells, and branches of coral, and over the bed a great shin- 
ing star, made of the delicate gold-shells. That was Daddy’s 
present to her on her last birthday. Dear Daddy ! There, 
sitting in the corner, was Mrs. Neptune, the doll which 
Captain January had carved out of a piece of fine wood that 
had drifted ashore after a storm. Her eyes were tiny black 
snail-shells, her hair was of brown sea-moss, very thick and 


44 


CAPTAIN JANUARY. 


soft (“ though as for combing it/’ said Star, it is im-poS' 
sible!”), and a smooth pink shell was set in either cheek, 
‘Ho make a blush.” Mrs. Neptune was somewhat battered, 
as Star was in the habit of knocking her head against the 
wall when she was in a passion; but she maintained her 
gravity of demeanor, and always sat with her back per- 
fectly straight, and with an air of protest against everything 
in general. 

In the window stood the great chest, at once a treasure- 
chamber and a seat; and over it hung one of the most 
precious things of Star’s little world. It was a string of 
cocoanut-shells. Fifteen of them there were, and each one 
was covered with curious and delicate carving, and each one 
meant a whole year of a man’s life. ‘‘ For the nuts was 
ripe when we kem ashore, my good mate Job Hotham and 
me, on that island. So when the nuts was ripe agin, ye see. 
Jewel Bright, we knowed ’twas a year since we kem. So I 
took my jack-knife and carved this first shell, as a kind o’ 
token, ye know, and not thinkin’ there’d be so many to 
carve.” So the first shell was all covered with ships : fair 
vessels, with sails all set, and smooth seas rippling beneath 
them ; the ships that were even then on their way to rescue 
the two castaways. And the second was carved with anchors, 
the sign of hope, and with coils of rope, and nautical instru- 
ments, and things familiar to seamen’s eyes. But the third 
was carved with stars, and sickle-curved moons, and broad- 
rayed suns, Because, ye see, Beach Blossom, earthly hope 
bein’ as ye might say foundered, them things, and what was 
above ’em, stayed where they was ; and it stiddied a man’s 
mind to think on ’em, and to make a note on ’em as fur as 
might be.” And then came one covered with flowers and 
berries, and another with fruits, and another with shells, 


CAPTAIN JANUARY' S STAB. 


45 


ctnd so on tiiroiigli the whole fifteen. They hung now in 
little Star’s window, a strange and piteous record ; and every 
night before the child said her prayers, she kissed the first 
and last shell, and then prayed that Daddy Captain might 
forget the dreadful time,” and never, never think about it 
again. 

So, on this gray day, when other things were going on 
out-of-doors. Star was having a “ good time ” in her room. 
She had found in the treasure-chest a short mantle of gold- 
colored velvet, which made a just exactly skirt ” for her, 
the two ends trailing behind enough to give her a sense of 
dignity, but not enough to impede her movements. ^^Dor 
I am not a princess to-day ! ” she said ; I am delicate Ariel, 
and the long ones get round my feet so I can’t run.” Then 
came a long web of what she called sunshine,” and really 
it might have been woven of sunbeams, so airy-light was the 
silken gauze of the fabric. This my lady had wound round 
and round her small person with considerable art, the 
fringed ends hanging from either shoulder, and making, to 
her mind, a fair substitute for wings. ^^See!” she cried, 
running to and fro, and glancing backward as she ran. 

They wave ! they really do wave ! Look, Mrs. Neptune ! 
aren’t they lovely ? Dut you are envious, and that is why 
you look so cross. ^Merrily, merrily, shall I live now, 
under the blossom that hangs on the bough.’ ” She leaped 
and danced about the room, light and radiant as a creature 
of another world : then stopped, to survey with frowning 
brows her little blue stockings and stout laced boots. Ariel 
never wore such things as those ! ” she declared ; if you 
say she did, Mrs. Neptune, you show your ignorance, and 
that is all I have to say to you.” Off came the shoes and 
stockings, and the little white feet were certainly much 


46 


CAPTAIN JANUARY. 


prettier to look at. Now/’ cried Star, I will go down 
stairs and wait for Daddy Captain, and perhaps he will 
think I am a real fairy. Oh, wouldn’t that be fun ! I am 
sure I look like one ! ” and down the stairs she flitted like a 
golden butterfly. Once in the kitchen, the housewife in 
her triumphed for a moment over the fairy : she raked up 
the fire, put on more wood, and swept the hearth daintily. 

But Ariel did such things for Prospero,” she said. I’m 
Ariel just the same, so I may as well fill the kettle and put 
some apples down to roast.” This was soon done, and 
clapping her hands with delight the tricksy spirit” began 
to dance and frolic anew. 

“ ‘ Come unto these yellow sands, 

And then take hands ! ’ ” 

she sang, holding out her hands to invisible companions. 

“ ‘ Courtesied when ye have, and kissed 
(The wild waves whist !) 

Toot it featly here and there.’ 

Oh ! foot it featly, and feat it footly, and dance and 
sing, and tootle-ty ting ! ” cried the child, as she flitted like 
a golden cloud about the room. Then, as she whirled 
round and faced the door, she stopped short. Her arms 
fell by her side, and she stood as if spellbound, looking at 
the lady who stood in the doorway. 

The lady made no motion at first, but only gazed at her 
with loving and tender eyes. She was a beautiful lady, 
and her eyes were soft and blue, with a look of tears in 
them. But there was no answering softness in the starry 
eyes of the child : only a wide, wild look of wonder, of 
anger, perhaps of fear. Presently the lady, still silent, 


CAPTAIN JANUABT'S STAB. 


47 


raised both, hands, and kissed them tenderly to the child ; 
then laid them on her breast, and then held them out to her 
with a gesture of loving appeal. 

“ I don’t know whether you are a spirit of health or a 
goblin damned,” said Star ; “ but anyhow it isn’t polite to 
come into people’s houses without knocking, I think. I 
knowed you were a spirit when you looked at me yesterday, 
if you did have a red shawl on.” 

Plow did you know that I was a spirit ? ” asked the lady, 
softly. Oh, little Star, how did you know ? ” 

’Cause you looked like my poor mamma’s picture,” 
replied the child, that my poor papa had round his neck. 
Are you my mamma’s spirit ? ” 

The lady shook her head. “No, darling,” she said, “I am 
no spirit. But I have come to see you, little Star, and to 
tell you something. Will you not let me come in, Sweet- 
heart ? ” 

Star blushed, and hung her head for a moment, remem* 
bering Captain January’s lessons on politeness and “quar- 
ter-deck manners.” She brought a chair at once, and in a 
more gracious tone said (mindful of Willum Shakespeare’s 
lords and ladies), “I pray you sit !” 

The lady sat down, and taking the child’s hand, drew her 
gently toward her. “Were you playing fairy, dear ? ” she 
asked, smoothing back the golden hair, with loving touch. 

Star nodded. “I was delicate Ariel,” she said. “I was 
footing it featly, you know, on these yellow sands. Some- 
times I am Puck, and sometimes Titania; but Daddy likes 
Ariel best, and so do I. Did you ever play it ? *’ she asked, 
looking up into the kindly face that bent over her. 

The lady smiled and shook her head. “No, dear child,” 
she said, still with that motherly touch of the hand on the 


18 


CAPTAIN JANUARY. 


fair head. “ I never thought of such a pretty play as that 
but X was very happy as a child playing with my — with 
my sister. I had a dear, dear sister, Star. Would you like 
to hear about her ? ’’ 

^‘Yes,’’ said Star, with wondering eyes. ^^Was she a 
little girl ? ” 

^^Such a lovely little girl!^’ said the lady. "Her hair 
was dark, but her eyes were like yours. Star, blue and soft. 
We played together always as children, and we grew up 
together, two loving, happy girls. Then my sister married : 
and by and by, dear, she had a little baby. A sweet little 
girl baby, and she named it Isabel, after me.” 

" I was a little girl baby, too,” said Star, " but I wasnT 
named anything; I came so : just Star.” 

" Little Isabel had another name,” said the lady. " Her 
other name was Maynard, because that was her father’s 
name. Her father was Hugh Maynard. Have you ever 
seen or heard that name, my child ? ” 

Star shook her head. "No ! ” she said ; "my poor papa’s 
name was H. M. It was marked on his shirt and han’k’- 
chief. Daddy says. And my poor mamma’s name was 
Helena, just like Helena in Midsummer Night’s Dream.” 
The motherly hand trembled, and the lady’s voice faltered 
iS she said, " Star, my dear sister’s name was Helena, too. 
is not that strange, my little one ? ” 

The child looked curiously at her. " Where is your dear 
sister ? ” she asked. " Why do you cry when you say her 
name ? is she naughty ? ” 

Listen, Star,” said the lady, wiping the tears from her 
eyes, and striving to speak composedly. " My sister made 
a voyage to Europe, with her husband and her little baby. 
They spent the summer travelling in beautiful countries f 


CAPTAIN JANUARY^ S STAB. 


49 


and in the autumn, in September, Star, ten years ago this 
very year — think of it, my dear ! — they sailed for home. 
They came in a sailing-vessel, because the sea-voyage was 
thought good for your — for my sister. And — and — the 
vessel was never heard from. There was a terrible storm, 
and many vessels were lost in it.” 

^‘Just like my poor mamma’s ship!” said the child. 

Perhaps it was the same storm. Do you think — why do 
you look at me so ? ” she cried, breaking off suddenly. 

But the lady put both arms round her and drew her close^ 
close, while her tears fell fast on the golden hair. ‘ My 
darling ! ” she cried, “ my dear, dear little one ! It was the 
same storm ; the same storm and the same ship. Your poor 
mamma was my own sweet sister Helena, and you are my 
niece, my little Isabel, my own, own little namesake. Will 
you love me, darling ? will you love your Aunt Isabel, and 
let her care for you and cherish you as your sweet mother 
would have done ? ” 

Star stood very still, neither returning nor repelling the 
lady’s caresses. She was pale, and her breath came short 
and quick, but otherwise she showed no sign of agitation. 
Presently she put up her hand and stroked the lady’s cheek 
gently. ^^Why do you cry?” she asked quietly. ^^My 
poor mamma is in heaven. Don’t you like her to be in 
heaven ? Daddy says it is much nicer than here, and he 
knows.” 

Mrs. Morton checked her tears, and smiled tenderly in 
the little wondering face. Dear child ! ” she said, I do 
like to have her in heaven, and I will not cry any more. 
But you have not told me whether you will love me. Star. 
Will you try, dear ? and will you let me call you my little 
Isabel ? ” 


50 


CAPTAIN JANUABY, 


I will love you/^ replied the child. if Daddy Captain 
loves you ; I will love you very much. But you must not 
call me that name, ’cause I’m not it, I am just Star. Does 
Daddy love you ? ” she asked ; and then with a sudden note 
of anxiety in her voice, she exclaimed, Where is Daddy ? 
where is my Daddy Captain ? Did you see him when you 
came in ? ” 

Her question was answered by the sound of voices out- 
side ; and the next moment the minister appeared, followed 
by Mr. Morton and Captain January. The old Captain 
hastened to place a chair for each of the gentlemen by the 
fireside, and then took his stand against the wall on the fur- 
ther side of the room. He held his weather-beaten cap in 
his hand, and turned it slowly round and round, consider- 
ing it attentively. It might have been observed by one quick 
to notice trifles, that he did not look at the child, though no 
slightest motion of hers was lost upon him. 

“ George,” said Mrs. Morton joyously to her husband, 
'^here is our little niece, dearest Helena’s child. She is 
going to love me, she says, and she will love you, too. Star, 
my darling, this is your Uncle George. Will you not give 
him a kiss, and be his little girl as well as mine ? We have 
two little girls at home, and you shall be the third.” 

Star went obediently to Mr. Morton, who kissed her 
warmly, and tried to take her on his knee. You are taller 
than our Grace,” he said, but I don’t believe you are as 
heavy, my dear. Grace is just your age, and I am sure you 
will be great friends.” 

But Star slipped quietly from his arms, and, running to 
the Captain, took one of his hands in both of hers and kissed 
it. I am Daddy Captain’s little girl ! ” she said, looking 
round bravely at the others. “Why do you talk as if I 


CAPTAIN JANUABY'S STAB. 


51 


belonged to you ? Then seeing the trouble in Mrs. Morton’s 
face, she added, I will love you, truly I will, and I will 
call you Aunt Isabel ; but I cannot belong to different people, 
’cause I’m only just one. Just Captain January’s Star.” 

She looked up in the old man’s face with shining eyes, 
but no tender, confident look returned her glance. The 
brown hand trembled between her two little white palms ; 
the keen blue eyes were still bent fixedly upon the old 
woollen cap, as if studying its texture ; but it was in a quiet 
and soothing tone that the Captain murmured : — 

^^Easy, Jewel Bright! Easy now! Helm steady, and 
stand by ! ” 

There was a moment of troubled silence ; and then the 
old minister, clearing his throat, spoke in his gentle, tran- 
quil voice. ^^My dear child,” he said, ^^a very strange 
thing has come to pass ; but what seems strange to us is 
doubtless clear and simple to the Infinite Wisdom above us. 
You have been a faithful and loving child, little Star, to 
your beloved guardian and friend here, and no father could 
have cared for you more tenderly than he has done. But the 
tie of blood is a strong one, my dear, and should not be lightly 
set aside. This lady is your own near relation, the sister of 
your dear dead mother. Through the merciful providence 
of God, she has been led to you, and she feels it her duty to 
claim you, in the name of your parents. We have consid« 
ered the matter carefully, and we all feel that it is right 
that you should hereafter make your home with her and 
your uncle. This may be painful to you, my dear, but you 
are a good and intelligent child, and you will understand 
that if we give you pain now, it is to secure your future 
good and happiness.” 

He paused; and all eyes, save those keen blue ones 


62 


CAPTAIN JANUABY. 


which were studying so carefully the texture of the battered 
woollen cap, turned anxiously on the child. A deep flush 
passed over Star’s face; then vanished, leaving it deadly 
pale, a mask of ivory with eyes of flame. When she spoke, 
it was in a low, suppressed voice, wholly unlike her ow.n. 

^^You may kill me,” said the child, ^^and take my body 
away, if you like. I will not go while I am alive.” 

She turned her eyes from one to the other, as if watching 
for the slightest motion to approach her. 

Mrs. Morton, in great distress, spoke next. “ My darling, 
it grieves me to the heart to take you from your dear, kind 
Daddy. But think, my Star ; you are a child now, but you 
will soon be a woman. You cannot grow up to womanhood 
in a place like this. You must be with your own people, 
and have companions of your own age. My children will 
be like your own sisters and brothers. My dear, if you 
could only know how they will love you, how we shall all 
cherish and care for you ! ” 

“ When I am dead ? ” asked Star. “ It will make no 
difference to me, your love, for I shall be dead. I will not 
go alive.” 

Oh, Captain J anuary ! ” cried Mrs. Morton, turning to 
the old man, with clasped hands. Speak to her ! she will 
listen to you. Tell her — tell her what you said to me. 
Tell her that it is right for her to go ; that you wish her to 
go!” 

The old man’s breathing was heavy and labored, and for 
a moment it seemed as if he strove in vain for utterance : 
but when he spoke, his voice was still soothing and cheer- 
ful, though his whole great frame was trembling like a 
withered leaf. Star Bright,” he said (and between almost 
every word he paused to draw the short, heavy breath), ‘‘I 


CAPTAIN JANUARY'S STAR. 


53 


always told ye, ye ’member, that ye was the child of gen- 
tlefolks. So bein’, ’tis but right that you should have 
gentle raisin’ by them as is yer own flesh and blood. You’ve 
done your duty, and more than your duty, by me. Now 
’tis time ye did your duty by them as the Lord has sent to 
ye. You’ll have — my — my respeckful love and duty 
wherever you go, my dear, and you growin’ up to be a beau- 
tiful lady, as has been a little wild lass. And you’ll not 
forget the old Cap’n, well I know, as will be very comf ’table 
here — ” 

But here the child broke out with a wild, loud cry, which 
made all the others start to their feet. ^‘Do you want me 
to go ? ” she cried. Look at me. Daddy Captain ! you 
shall look at me ! ” she snatched the cap from his hands 
and flung it into the fire, then faced him with blazing eyes 
and quivering lip. ^^Do you want me to go ? are you tired 
of me ? ” 

Heavier and heavier grew that weight on Captain J anu- 
ary’s chest ; shorter and harder came his breath. His eyes 
met the child’s for a moment, then wavered and fell. 

Why — honey — ” he said slowly, I — I’m an old man 
now — a very old man. And — and — an old man likes 
quiet, ye see : and — I’d be quieter by myself, like j and — 
and so, honey — I — I’d like ye to go.” 

You lie I ” cried the child ; and her voice rang like a 
silver, trumpet in the startled ears of the listeners. You 
lie to me, and you lie to God : and you know you lie ! ” 

The next moment she had sprung on to the low window-sill, 
then turned for an instant, with her little hands clenched in 
menace, and her great eyes flashing fire that fell like a burn- 
ing touch on every heart. Her fantastic dress gleamed like 
a fiery cloud against the gray outside : her hair fell like a 


54 


CAPTAIN JANUARY. 


glory about her vivid, shining face. A moment she stood 
there, a vision, a flying star, trailing angry light, never to 
be forgotten by those who saw ; then, like a flash, she van- 
ished. 

Captain January tottered to his old chair and sat down 
in it. The child is right. Lady and Gentleman ! he said. 

I lied ! I lied to my God, and to the little child who loved 
me. May God and the child forgive me ! And he hid his 
face in his hands, and silence fell for a moment. 

Then Mr. Morton, who had walked hastily to the window, 
and was doing something with his handkerchief, beckoned 
to his wife. Isabel,” he said, in a low tone, “ I will not be 
a party to this. It’s an atrocious and vindictive outrage. 
I — I — you are not the woman I took you for, if you say 
another word to that old angel. Let him have the child, 
and send him one or two of your own into the bar — ” but 
Isabel Morton, laughing through her tears, laid her hand 
over her husband’s lips for a moment. Then going to the 
old man’s chair, she knelt down by it and took his two 
hands in hers. 

Captain J anuary ! ” she said, tenderly. Dear, dear 
Captain January ! the lie is forgiven : I am very, very sure 
it is forgiven in heaven, as it will be forgiven in the child’s 
loving heart. And may God never pardon me, if ever word 
or look of mine come again between you and the child 
whom God gave you ! ” 

The gray evening was closing in around the lighthouse 
tower. The guests were gone, and Captain January sat 
alone beside the Are in his old armchair. The window was 
still open, for the air was soft and mild. The old man’s 
hands were clasped upon his knee ; his heart was lifted as 
high as heaven, in silent prayer and praise. 


CAPTAIN JANUABY'S STAB. 


55 


Suddenly, at the window, there was a gleam of yellow, 
a flitting shape, a look, a pause j then a great glad cry, 
and Star flitted like a ray of moonlight through the window, 
and fell on Captain January’s breast. 

Daddy,” she said, breaking the long, happy silence, 
dear Daddy, I am sorry I burned your horrid old cap I ” 


CHAPTER Vi. 


THE SIGNAIi. 

Q uietly passed the days, the weeks, the months, in 
the lonely tower on the rock fronting the Atlantic 
surge. Winter came, and folded it in a white mantle, and 
decked it with frost-jewels. Like a pillar of ice, the tower 
shone in the keen brilliance of the northern sun ; but within 
was always summer, the summer of perfect peace and con- 
tentment. To the child Star, winter was always a season 
of great delight; for Captain January had little to occupy 
him out of doors, and could devote much of his time to her. 
So there were long, delightful “ jack-knife times,’’ as Star 
called them, when the Captain sat fashioning all sorts of 
wonderful trifles with his magic knife, the child sitting at 
his elbow and watching him with happy eyes. There were 
story times,” instituted years before, as soon as Star had 
learned to sew on patchwork ; for as for sewing without a 
story to listen to, “ that,^^ said Star, is against my nature. 
Daddy. And you don’t want me to do things that are against 
my nature, do you ? ” So whenever the squares of gay calico 
came out, and the golden head bent to and fro over them, 
like a paradise bird hovering over a bed of gaudy flowers, 
the story came out too, between puffs of the pipe, while the 
fire crackled a cheery accompaniment, sputtering defiance 
to the wind that whistled outside. Some tale of the south- 
ern seas, and the wild tropic islands, of coral reefs and pearl- 
fisheries, sharks and devil-fish; or else a whaling story, 
56 


THE SIGNAL. 


57 


fresh and breezy as the north, full of icebergs, and seal- 
hunts over the cracking floes, polar bears, and all the wild 
delights of whale-fishing. 

Then, on fine days (and oh, but the days are fine, in 
these glorious northern winters !) there was much joy to be 
had out of doors. For there was a spot in the little meadow, 
— once of gold-flecked emerald, now of spotless pearl, — a 
jpot where the ground tilted,’^ to use Star’s expression, sud- 
denly down to a tiny hollow, where a fairy spring bubbled 
out of the rock into a fairy lake. In summer. Star rather 
despised this lake, which was, truth to tell, only twenty 
feet long and ten feet wide. It was very nice for Imogen 
to drink from and to stand in on hot days, and it did many 
iovely things in the way of reflecting blue skies and fleecy 
clouds and delicate traceries of leaf and bough ; but as water, 
it seemed a very trifling thing to a child who had the whole 
sweep of the Atlantic to fill her eyes, and who had the 
breakers for her playfellows and gossips. 

But in winter, matters were different. All the laughing 
lips of ripples, all the white tossing crests of waves, must 
content themselves with the ice-bound rocks, till spring 
should bring them their child-comrade again ; and the little 
sheet of dark crystal in the hollow of the meadow had things 
all its own way, and mirrored back her bright face every 
day. The little red sled, launched at the top of the ^^tilt,” 
came skimming down the slope, and shot like an arrow over 
the smooth ice, kept always clear of snow by the Captain’s 
ever-busy hands ; or else, when tired of coasting, the child 
would plant her small feet wide apart, and slide, and run, 
and slide again, till the pond could have cracked with 
pleasure, if such a thing had been in accordance with its 
principles. 


68 


CAPTAIN JANUABY. 


But of all the joyous hours, none was more welcome to 
the child than that after the simple supper was cleared 
away and the room redded up.” Then, while fire and 
lamplight made their merriest cheer, the table was drawn 
up to the warmest spot ; Star took her place upon Captain 
January’s knee, and the two heads, the silver one and the 
golden, bent in absorbed interest over ^^Willum Shake- 
speare” or the Good Book. 

Generally the Captain read aloud, but sometimes they 
read the parts in turn ; and again sometimes the child would 
break off, and recite whole passages alone, with a fire and 
pathos which might have been that of Maid Marjorie, sway- 
ing at her childish will the heart of Sir Walter and his 
friends. 

So quietly, in the unbroken peace which love brightened 
into joy, the winter passed. 

At Christmas, they had^ as usual, a visit from the faith- 
ful Bob, who brought all his many pockets full of candy 
and oranges and all manner of truck,” as he called it, for 
Missy Star. Also he brought a letter and a box directed 
only to ‘^Captain January’s Star.” The letter, which the 
child opened with wondering eagerness, being the first she 
had ever received, was from Mrs. Morton. It was full of 
tender and loving words, wishes for Christmas cheer and 
New Year blessing, and with it was a photograph of the 
beautiful face,- with its soft and tender eyes, which Star 
remembered so welL On the back was written, For little 
Star, from Aunt Isabel.” And the box? why that was 
quite as wonderful in its way. For it contained a most 
beautiful pipe for the Captain, of sweet brierwood, mounted 
in silver; and oh! oh! such a doll! Other children have 
seen such dolls, but Star never had; a blue-eyed waxen 


THE SIGNAL. 


59 


beauty, with fringed lasbes that opened and shut, rose-leaf 
cheeks, and fabulous wealth of silky flaxen curls. Also 
it had a blue velvet frock, and its underclothing was a 
wonder to behold; and the box was full of other frocks 
and garments. 

Star took the doll in her arms with delighted awe, and 
seemed for a few moments absorbed in her new treasure. 
Presently, however, a shadow crossed her bright face. She 
glanced at Bob and the Captain, and seeing that they were 
both engaged in busy talk, she quietly went up to her 
own room, carrying the doll with her. Here she did a 
strange thing. She crossed the room to the corner where 
Mrs. Neptune sat, with her back rigid, protesting against 
circumstances, and set the radiant stranger down beside 
her ; then, with her hands clasped behind her, and brows 
bent, she considered the pair long and attentively. Truly 
they were a strange contrast : the delicate, glowing, velvet- 
clad doll, and the battered old wooden image, with eyes of 
snail-shells and hair of brown sea-moss. But when Star 
had finished her scrutiny, she took the beautiful doll, and 
buried it deep under velvets and satins at the very bottom 
of the great chest. This done, she kissed Mrs. Neptune 
solemnly, and proceeded to adorn her with a gorgeous East- 
ern scarf, the very gayest her treasure-house could afford. 

Meanwhile, in the room below, the talk went on, grave 
and earnest. Troubled it was, too, on one side ; for though 
the Captain s^ quietly iu his chair, and spoke in his usual 
cheerful voice. Bob Beet’s rough tones were harsh and 
broken, and he rose from his place once or twice and moved 
uneasily about the room. 

Cap’n,” he said, -- ’tain’t so. Don’t tell me ! Strong 
man — hearty — live twenty years yet — like’s not thirty I 


60 


CAPTAIN JANUABY, 


Uncle o’mine — Punks quid —hundred and three — pearPs 
chicken/’ 

Captain January puffed at his pipe in silence for some 
minutes. Bob/’ he said presently, it ain’t always as it’s 
given to a man to know his time. I’ve allers thought I 
should take it particular kind if it ’corded with the Lord’s 
views to let me know when He was ready for me. And now 
that He has let me know, and moreover has set my mind 
that easy about the child that it’s a pleasure to think of, 
why, it ain’t likely I shall take it anyway hut kind. Thank- 
in’ you all the same. Bob, as have been a good mate to me, 
and as I sha’n’t forget wherever I am. But see now ! ” he 
added hastily, hearing a sound in the room above. ^^You 
understand. Bob ? I h’ist that signal, as it might be to-mor- 
row, and I keep her flyin’ night and day. And so long as 
you see her flyin’, you says, ^Cap’n’s all right so far!’ 
you says. But you keep a sharp lookout; and if some 
mornin’ you don’t see her, you says, ^ Sailin’ orders ! ’ you 
says, and then you calls Cap’n Hazro, as never failed in a 
kindness yet, nor ain’t likely to, to take the wheel, and you 
put for this island. And Cap’n Hazro he takes the Hun- 
tress in, and then goes straightway and sends a telegraft to 
the lady and gentleman, say in’ as Cap’n January has sailin’ 
orders, and they please to. come and take the child, as law- 
fully to them belongs. And you, Bob, — ” the old man’s 
steady voice faltered a little, as he laid his hand on the 
other’s arm — you’ll do all you can, welf I know. For 
she’ll take it hard, ye see. She has that depth o’ love in her 
little heart, and never nobody to love ’cept me since she were 
a baby, that she’ll take it cruel hard. But the Lord’ll have 
her in mind; He’ll have her in mind! and you’ll stand by, 
Bob, and bear a hand till the lady and gentleman come.” 


THE SIGNAL. 


61 


Bob Beet held out his honest brown hand; and the two 
men shook hands with a cfftain solemnity ; but before 
either of them could speak again, Star came singing down 
the stairs, and summoned them both to play at ball with 
oranges. 

And so it came to pass that a little blue signal was 
hoisted at the top of the white tower, and fluttered there 
bravely in sun and wind. And every time the Huntress 
went thundering by (which was twice a Aveek at this season 
instead of every day), Bob Beet looked out anxiously from 
the wheelhouse window, and seeing the little banner, took 
cheer, and rubbed his hands and said, “ Cap’n’s all right so 
far ! ’’ 

And Captain January, Avhenever there came the clujich 
and stab at his heart, and the struggle for breath, which he 
had felt for the first time that September day (but ah ! 
how many times since, and with what increasing persis- 
tence !) would creep to the stairway beside which hung the 
signal lines, and lay his hand on them, and wait : then, 
when the spasm passed, would pass his hand across his face 
and humbly say, Whenever it seems right. Lord ! A step 
nearer! and Thou havin’ the child in mind,” and so go 
cheerfully about his work again. 

There were not many more steps to take. Spring came, 
and the little meadow was green again. Bobins and blue- 
birds fluttered above the great pine-tree, and swallows built 
their nests under the eaves of the tower itself. The child 
Star sang with the birds, and danced with the dancing 
leaves, all unconscious of what was coming; but the old 
Captain’s steps grew slower and heavier, day by day, and 
the cheery voice grew feeble, and lost its hearty ring, 
though never its cheeriness. ^‘Bll set here in the porch, 


62 


CAPTAIN JANUARY, 


Jewel Bright/^ he would say, when the child begged him 
to come for a scramble on the*rocks. ‘‘1 think Pll jest set 
here, where I can see ye an’ hear to ye. I’m gittin’ lazy, 
Star Light ; that’s the truth. Yer old Daddy’s gittin’ lazy, 
and its comf’tabler settin’ here in the sun, than scramblin’ 
round the rocks.” 

And Star would fling herself on his neck, and scold and 
caress him, and then go off with a half-sense of disappoint- 
ment to her play. Very, very careful Captain January had 
to be, lest the child should suspect that which he was deter- 
mined to keep from her to the last. Sometimes he half 
thought she must suspect, so tender was she in these days ; 
so thoughtful, so mindful of his lightest wish. But “ ’tis 
only the woman growin’ up in her,” he decided; and 
looking back, he remembered that she had not once broken 
his pipe (as she had been used to do every three or four 
weeks, in her sudden rages) since last September. 

At last there came a day when the Captain did not even 
go out to the porch. It was a lovely May morning, bright 
and soft, with wreaths of silvery fog floating up from the 
blue water, and much sweet sound of singing birds and lap- 
ping waves in the air. Making some pretence of work at 
his carpenter’s bench, the old man sent Star out to loose 
the cow and lead her to the water ; and when she was gone, 
he tottered to his old chair and sat down heavily. There 
was no pain now, only a strange numbness, a creeping cold- 
ness, a ringing in the ears. If it might seem right ” to 
let him wait till the Huntress came by! ^^It’s nearly 
time,” he said half aloud. Nearly time, and ’t would be 
easier for the child.” 

At this moment, through the open doorway, came the 
silver sound of Star’s voice. But I don’t think there can 


TUJiJ ISIGNAL, 


63 


be any harm in my just telling you a little about it, Imogen. 
And the floor is the paved work of a sapphire : sapphire is 
a stone, just like the water over there, in the bluest place, 
and oh ! so clear and bright, Daddy says. He saw one 
once. And there will be most beautiful music, Imogen. 
Oh ! you can’t think what lovely music Daddy Captain 
will play on a harp. I know he will, ’cause he will be a 
spirit of just men made perfect : and that will be a great 
thing, Imogen ; for he has never known how to play on any- 
thing before : and — ” Ah ! the sweet, childish prattle ; but 
already it was growing faint upon the old man’s ears. 

Star Bright ! ” he called ; and the dancing shape came 
flying, and stood on tiptoe in the doorway. Steady, now, 
January ! keep your voice steady, if there is any will left 
in you. Keep your head turned a little away, lest there be 
any change in your face, yet not turned enough to make 
her wonder. “ Star Bright,” said Captain January, it’s 
about — time — for the Huntress — to be along, isn’t it ? ” 
^^Yes, Daddy,” said the child; she’s just in sight now. 
Shall I go down and wave to Bob as he goes by ? ” 

^^Yes, Honeysuckle,” said the old man. ^^And — and 
wait to see if he comes ashore. I think — likely — Bob’ll 
come ashore to-day. He was goin’ to bring — somethin’ — ■ 
for me. Is there a squall cornin’ up. Jewel Bright ? ” 

A squall, Daddy ?” said the child, wondering. Why, 
there isn’t a cloud in the sky.” 

Jes’ so!” said Captain January. ^^I — only jist asked. 
Good by. Star Bright.” 

Dear Daddy I Good by ! ” cried the child, and she sped 
away over the rocks. 

So dark ! and not a cloud in the sky. If he might have 
looked once more, with those fast-darkening eyes, at the 


64 


CAPTAIN JANUARY. 


little blessed face which held all the world in it ! if he could 
call her back now, and kiss her once more, and hold her 
little hand — No! no! steady, January! steady now, and 
stand by ! 

Quite dark now. But that does not matter. No need of 
light for what is now to be done. Slowly the old man raises 
himself ; feels for the wall, creeps along beside it. Here is 
the line. Is there any strength left in that benumbed arm ? 
Yes ! For the child, dear Lord, and Thou helpin’ me, as 
ever has been ! ” 

Down comes the signal, and the old man creeps back to 
his chair again, and composes himself decently, with rever- 
ent, folded hands and head bowed in waiting. ^ He holdeth 
the waters in the hollow of His hand. Behold, He taketh up 
the isles as a very little thing.^ Amen ! so be it ! ” 

Wave, little Star ! wave your little blue apron from the 
rocks, and laugh and clap your hands for pleasure, as the 
ripples from the steamer’s bow break in snowy foai,, ac your 
feet. Bend to your oar. Bob Beet, and send your little black 
boat flying over the water as she never flew before ! and 
press on, friendly Huntress, to your port, whence the winged 
message may speed on its way to the stately lady with the 
tender eyes, who waits for tidings in her distant home. 

For Captain January’s last voyage is over, nnd he is 
already in the haven whe^e he would be. 


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